Summer Snow
by RisingWinter
Summary: Snow dreams every now and again. Not of blitzball fame – he has that – or of a happy home – he has that, too – but of a girl he's never seen before, with winter-blue eyes and laughter like quiet church bells. Takes place around Will and contains massive spoilers for the X and XIII series. First part in the Final Soulburst series.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or XIII or any flavor thereof

He dreams every day, now.

Sometimes they're lucid and he's aware of every touch and emotion that could and doesn't happen. Sometimes the colors are saturated blues and golds, showing him a world of glitter and glamor, and sometimes they're muted with the sensation of entering a dead world. Sometimes the words he hears and the people he sees come as surprises, and sometimes he feels like he's experienced them a thousand times before. Sometimes he can make sense of the dreams, and sometimes he can't.

Though, the dreams tend toward the weird side, with bizarre elements like technicolor hair and floating planets above the ground proving plentiful in their recurrence. But they also tend to resonate with him in a way that he can't put his finger on. The planets and people feel familiar to him, but the stringed lights crossing dark streets are anything but.

He suspects that deep down he knows the connection, though the reason why continues to elude him.

Sometimes he dreams of large and open fields full of wandering chocobos. He sees a vast, open sky that glitters like diamond dust in the winter and turns into various hues of orange and pink when the sun sets. He sees trees that stand tall and strong and yet sport tuft-life balls of fluff on top.

He wonders why that feels more like home than the tent in which he sleeps.

Sometimes he dreams of gunfire and depths of blackness, ready to swallow him if he makes the wrong move. During those moments, he finds himself surrounded by kids of varying ages, a lot of them so young they haven't finished growing and their heads barely reach his chest. The faces change sometimes, but it's always the same people in different combinations. A couple of girls the same age as him. A child wearing clothes so big he seemed to drown in them. A teen boy with an eating disorder. A silver-haired brat hiding a well of wisdom and experience. A bubbly optimist with a penchant for running off. A couple of dark-haired women with attitudes.

He misses them more than his dead birth parents.

Many nights, his dreams are occupied by a skinny girl with wintery, sad eyes and a glimmering pendant at her chest. She usually keeps her distance from him, but sometimes she lets him get close enough to touch her. On those nights, he feels a sharp ache in his chest and wakes with wet eyes and a hollow emptiness in his stomach that won't fade no matter how much he eats or drinks.

Sometimes, he could swear he's tumbling through space and time itself with nowhere to hold on to or stop himself. The scene fades before he reaches the end most times, though he's occasionally found himself on towering cliff faces and under miles of vines.

It feels more comfortable to him than the games he plays with his friends.

Most dreams, he can only catch glimpses and flashes of the people and places he's never seen. He's left with small puzzle pieces that don't fit no matter how hard he tries to put them together. When he sees more than that, he feels an equal mix of longing and fear for the images that he doesn't understand.

He dreams every day now, but every day he rises from his bed with a lingering sense of regret.

But like the morning mist, the memory of those dreams fades. Every day, he forgets.

* * *

 **A/N:** _The content for this story is about 80% done. It's onto its final draft with some minor fixups near the beginning. If this fic - or, this part of it - dies, assume I'm dead with it. Updates every week. Since I played Lightning Returns, I've desired to make a more satisfactory ending. The result was... not simple. This is the first part in a series, with characters spread to each world for plot reasons that will be heretofore explained. As the Japanese say, yoroshiku onegaishimasu -_ 宜しくお願いします


	2. Chapter 2

Chuami and Kurgum stood in Baralai's office, waiting for him to finish up the last of his reports even though _he_ was the one to call _them._ In addition to that, his office was full of old and expensive artifacts, much like the old priests would have had. Only powerful people decorated their rooms like this, to show their money and standing. Those same people tended to be the ones taking over the world and manipulating the people into doing their will within a year of making their names known.

Beside her, Kurgum shifted uncomfortably, moving his staff between hands. He glanced between her and the man on the other side of the desk who worked silently away at his decreasing stack of scrolls. Kurgum straightened his pristine robes for the umpteenth time, running his hands over his white vest and absently tugging at a tiny loose thread on the edge.

Hardly a sound echo off the office's enclosed walls, illuminated by the dying light of the setting sun that revealed shelves holding artifacts and plaques. It was tidier than most offices Chuami had seen, and emptier. From what she could tell, Baralai had no personal items to decorate his desk outside of a single cracked and dulled sphere.

Baralai scratched his pen across the surface of a scroll, likely a proposal needing his signature. It was soon set aside and replaced with another scroll which Baralai took a moment to read over before signing.

Chuami hummed to herself, partially just for the fun of watching Kurgum squirm. Baralai didn't react as he straightened out the finished stack and carefully placed the last few pages on top.

"So," Chuami said when Baralai finally set down his pen and turned to face them. "Besaid."

Despite the small gap in years between them, Chuami thought that the chancellor looked over a decade older. His dark skin looked shallower than Chuami remembered and his voice was little more than a weary sigh when he replied, "Besaid."

"Why?" Chuami asked.

"Didn't you get my message?"

"We got it. Doesn't mean we understand it."

"Chuami," Kurgum pleaded. "Don't."

"Look," Baralai said, leaning against his chair. "I know you've never been partial to Yevon's teachings, but you shouldn't take it out on Lady Yuna."

"I'm not taking it out on Yuna," Chuami said. "I'm taking it out on you."

"Because I'm the one sending you?"

"Yes."

Kurgum cringed, but Baralai merely fixed his dark eyes on Chuami's and linked his hands over his desk. "I'm sorry to do this," he said, "but we're short-staffed thanks to the unfortunate events in Luca and we can't afford to part with any of the rest of our current councilmen."

"Because they're more 'important?'"

"No, because I've had to give them other jobs that, like yours, would ideally be given to our couriers and foot soldiers. Would you prefer to test your luck and switch places with one of them?"

"That's not my point."

Kurgum cleared his throat and asked, "What about that second sphere? Is it all right if we know what's in it?"

Baralai shook his head. "It's just a curious find from the former youth league. For the first sphere, ask Mell in the library for the sphere from Baaj and she'll have it packaged for you."

Chuami folded her arms. "What if Yuna doesn't want to come?"

"Then tell me she won't come," Baralai said. "I'm not asking you to change her mind."

"Yevon knows she should."

"We understand," Kurgum said, giving Chuami a pointed look. "And it's time to be going."

"Thank you." Baralai bowed his head in respect. "Yevon's favor be with the both of you."

Kurgum bowed deeper. "You, too, Chancellor."

They both left and Chuami waited until they were back in the open air of the halls before she made a _tsk_ sound. "Sometimes," she said, disgusted, "I wonder why we're still working for these people."

"We work for them because they work for Spira."

Chuami scoffed. "Do we really, though? They're still obsessed with Yevon! He's sending us to deliver a message in person to the _Priestess,_ for crying out loud!"

"I've explained this," Kurgum said. "You know why we have to give it to her ourselves."

Chuami shook her head, glaring back at one of the other councilmen that gave them a strange look in passing. It _was_ a little odd for them to be wandering about the precinct at this hour. "We have private comm spheres," she said. "Why not use one of those?"

Kurgum didn't respond, though his lips tightened into a fine line. It was a valid point – even he couldn't argue it, surely.

A warm breeze wafted in from the south. The sun was barely a tint in the sky now, so they were left to wander in the provided light of small torches burning on the pillars supporting the wall above them.

Chuami sighed. "Are we really going to let him turn us into his lapdogs?"

"We're not lapdogs."

"Not yet, we're not, but just you watch. Next thing you know, they're going to dismiss this whole thing out of hand and _we're_ going to be the ones sending the spirits in the Moonflow while Yuna sits and frets in her temple."

Kurgum took a deep breath and shifted his staff in his hands. "I'm sure it won't come to that. Lady Yuna is a reasonable woman and I trust her to make the right choice."

"You say that like you know her." Chuami cast him a sideways glance. "What if you disagree with her choice?"

"I won't." Kurgum risked a glance her way. "It's another strange order, I'll admit, but he has yet to do anything worth making a fuss over."

"Yeah. See if you're still saying that in a week."

* * *

Tidus dreamed sometimes. It wasn't often, but there were moments when he caught glimpses of nonsense imagery and shadows of strange artifacts he'd never seen before.

Sometimes when he dreamed, Tidus walked on purple-tinted glass, shoes squeaking against its smooth surface. Around him, crystals budded in sharp spikes reminiscent of flowers. They rested against towering walls that were covered in intricate, circular patterns.

The air here felt cold and… empty. Like it was only him in a vast universe. The halls were large enough to feel like they spanned the clear night sky that he never saw back in the polluted air of Zanarkand and Tidus knew that if he spoke, his voice would echo forever.

Often when he found himself in that place, he also saw the silhouette of a person in flowing robes. Tidus tried to follow them sometimes, but he usually found an inertia weighing him down. He could move, but it felt like swimming through syrup. He walked and trudged his way through the scene like he was some fisherman, using only a spear to catch his dinner in a stream.

He dreamed sometimes of a red-carpeted palace, whose bannisters and walls carried the sigil of a rose. He felt at home in those walls, which protected him from the outside. Besaid felt safer, though.

Sometimes he saw the face of a fair-haired woman, whose piercing blue eyes and elegant poise struck Tidus as what he might see in the image of a queen, though her clothes were simple. Her head bore a horned crown, which Tidus thought should seem strange but only felt right.

"How do I know you?" he asked once.

She merely smiled at him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You'll find your own answer."

He felt a warmth in his heart at her words, a gladness for her reassuring presence. It was something he knew she would say, and yet he felt relief hearing it all the same.

The lady's image would then disperse as quickly as anything else in this scape and he would move on to other strange places. He walked through clear crystal, whose shining lights refracted and shattered through the facets detailing the walls and floor. It looked a lot like the first place he saw, only blue instead of purple.

A large, empty throne greeted him in one room. Tidus imagined a great being, as big as Bevelle's palace, sitting and judging him with lofty, golden eyes.

"Why is it empty?" he asked.

The same woman from before appeared, her image barely a silhouette behind him. "The gods sleep," she said. "You cannot wake them."

"But we woke the Fayth," Tidus said. "That's why I disappeared."

"The Fayth are awake," the woman said, "but the gods sleep. _You_ are awake."

Tidus blinked.

And woke up in his tent in Besaid.

It was still dark outside, though the sky was tinged blue from the early morning. Tidus groaned, rolling over and burying himself further into his blankets. He only had a few more minutes before he would normally warm up for ball practice.

He couldn't help thinking of that woman, with her flaxen hair, laced with beads. He thought of her smile that left him feeling strong, like the quiet resolution in her voice. Like Yuna's.

With a groan, Tidus hauled himself into a sitting position, watching the light outside until it turned a shade closer to blue. The morning air was cool despite the recent heat of summer.

He resided with the Aurochs still, most of whom still slept quietly. Letty was a bit of a snorer and Jassu wheezed as if from a cold, but the tent was otherwise silent like the place he saw in his dreams.

With a yawn, Tidus pulled himself to his feet. Might as well get an early start.

He left the protection of the tent and stepped out into the village, where he could see few others awake. Since the calm, there was increasingly little need to get up as early. The technology to heat water spread this far south, with proper plumbing not too far behind. Food had grown far more bountiful since there were less and less fiends to share the game with, and crops were easier to protect and nurture.

Tidus stretched and watched some of the fishermen leave to catch the morning's share before he went to the temple, where Yuna and some dozen other people stayed. While many had given up following the old traditions and routines of Yevon, most still held on to some of the teachings. Especially here in Besaid, they remained altogether loyal.

The lobby was quiet when he entered, though a couple of the original priests had woken and started their morning prayers. They didn't react to his entrance beyond a couple of small nods.

Yuna's room was on the right side by the stairs, where Tidus peeked past the curtains to see if she'd woken yet.

As expected, he found her bowed in prayer before the tapestry on the far wall containing a paragraph of Yevon script. He snuck inside, letting the curtain fall closed behind him, and leaned against the wall to wait for her to finish.

Eventually, Yuna relaxed and looked at him. "You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

She sighed and stood. "The usual, I guess. I feel more invigorated now."

"Gross. Yevon even encouraged people to lose _sleep_."

"It taught us discipline." Yuna crossed the room, the hem of her robes swaying slightly with each step. She stopped in front of him. "But it wasn't a commandment."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "At least."

Yuna smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "No one says you have to like it."

"Good," he said, feeling some warmth where she kissed him. "Cause I don't."

"Pardon," said someone in the doorway. Tidus rolled his eyes to himself – couldn't he get some peace and quiet with his girlfriend for once?

He turned around as two councilmen entered – they must have been the ones with the summons from yesterday. Yuna had told him their names – Chuami, the girl, was about his height, with long, dark hair and wearing a southern-style dress. The other kid, Kurgum, accompanied her. He was shorter, with a tanned complexion similar to Chuami's and wearing more Council-appropriate attire with robes made from hard cloth.

"We'll be leaving at mid-sun," the girl said. "You'll be ready, then, right?"

"Of course," Yuna said. "But I have something I'd like to go over first."

Tidus took her hand. "Do you want me to stay?"

"Want, yes," Yuna said. "But I think it would be better for me to talk about this alone. See you after?"

Tidus refrained from expressing his disappointment. "Of course! I'll be near the waterfall."

Most of the Aurochs had left by the time Tidus returned to the tent. The sun had crept high enough in the sky then to light the island in a golden glow and banish the dark twilight of early sunrise.

"Hey, Snow!" Tidus called, approaching his bed. The only other remaining resident of the tent beside Snow was that brown-haired and wiry Palm kid that Tidus never got to know very well. Palm sat near the entrance, going over some spheres while Snow slept in one of the cots further back, his snores filling the tent while he laid sideways with both of his hands falling off the cot.

"Yo, we've got practice to do!"

Snow didn't even stir; the guy slept like a chocobo stuffed full of greens. "You ready to get up and at them?" Tidus asked, kicking Snow's bed. "Let's go!"

Snow mumbled something about noisy storms and distracted little kids. Tidus grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "Hey!"

That finally prompted Snow to crack an eye open and gaze blearily toward Tidus. "Huh?"

"Practice!"

"Ball?"

"Magic."

"Oh." Snow's mouth pulled down in a frown. "A'ight. Comin'."

"When did you get to bed?"

"As soon as I finished eating," Snow said, stretching and sitting up. He let out a long yawn.

Tidus blinked and ran numbers in his head. It couldn't have even been dark yet when Snow retired. "That's not like you."

Snow shrugged, stretching out his back some more. "Haven't been feeling too great, you know. Probably coming down with something."

"Yeah. Of course."

"What's going on there?" Snow asked after they left the tent and saw the temple, where Yuna spoke with the visitors and Lulu. Tidus hadn't seen the mayor join the group.

"It's those councilmen," Tidus said, shoving his hands in his pocket. "The ones taking Yuna to Bevelle. We'll be taking the same boat out."

"Oh." Snow folded his arms. "Do you know what that's about?"

"Something about artifacts found in the Baaj ruins." Tidus shook his head. "Don't see why they have to drag her over for something like that."

Snow cocked his head. "Artifacts, huh? Those would make some nice trophies, wouldn't they? What if they found, like, one of the first blitzballs ever made?"

Tidus scoffed. "The place to look for something like that is in Zanarkand. I doubt Baaj was the kind of place to hold a lot of matches, if you know what I mean."

"Still, though. Imagine the kinds of things they find in those ruins." Snow took on a faraway look and Tidus sighed.

"Wouldn't it all be covered in moss and stuff, though?" He wiggled his fingers to emphasize. "How could that be any good?"

"Could clean it off. Weren't those ships you used to ride salvaged metal?"

"The _Celsius_ and the _Fahrenheit_ ," Tidus said, "are different. You can't even tell when you're riding it and Rikku says they have a way to get past all the decay and corrosion. Picking up random artifacts, though… can never know what you'll get. The _Fahrenheit_ 's better than the _Celsius_ , by the way. Riding that thing feels like you've become a bird yourself."

"I'd love to give either one of them a chance," Snow said. "Take me with you next time!"

"Yeah, sure." Tidus slapped him on the shoulder. "Maybe when you've finally got this thing under control!"

"Hey!" Chuami barked their way and waved them over. "Tidus, right?"

He exchanged a surprised look with Snow before joining them. "Yes?"

"The Chancellor wanted us to say thanks," she said, folding her arms. "Don't ask me why he couldn't come here and say it himself."

Kurgum stiffened a little at Tidus' proximity. "I think he's busy."

Tidus waved a dismissive hand. "That guy's always busy. I wouldn't bother apologizing for him."

"Who's this?" the girl asked, jabbing a finger toward Snow.

"That's our pal," Tidus said. "We call him Snow."

She snorted. "Like winter Snow?"

Snow punched his hand into his fist. "Exactly!"

"Nice." She coughed in a thinly-veiled attempt at disguising her laugh. "I'm Chuami and this is Kurgum."

"Yuna," Lulu said. "We still need to speak about the Council's latest… 'gift.'"

"The building funds," Yuna said, before pursing her lips. "I haven't formulated a response yet."

Lulu sighed. "You can't put it off forever."

"Very well." Yuna rolled her shoulders back. "Give me a few minutes and I'll join you."

"Thank you." Lulu turned to Snow. "And how are your cold hands, Sunno?"

Snow laughed. "That's not how it's pronounced."

"That's not how _you_ pronounce it." The woman swished a hand, using some of her wind magic to spell out his name in the sand the way she said it. "You deserve a proper man's name like the rest of your brothers."

"Proper?" repeated Chuami. "What, you all have different rules for that kind of thing this far south?

"You keep saying," Snow said with a short laugh. He scratched at his scalp. "Why don't you do the same to Tidus?"

"We do." Lulu wrote out, _Tidda_. "But he's a foreigner and follows different rules."

"So's Snow!" Tidus said. "He just got here sooner than I did!"

"Soon enough to be considered one of us." Lulu wiped the sand away, clearing all evidence of their writing. "Much like Yuna. You'll remember, Tidus, that are quite a few in this village that haven't forgiven you for taking her away."

Snow frowned. "I thought the pilgrimage was Yuna's decision?"

Lulu shot him a cold look. "You would not understand. As it is, I admit that it eludes me as well how they could remain so thick-headed."

"Right," Tidus said, casting Yuna a suffering look. She responded with an apologetic one.

"We'll wait for you," Lulu said to Yuna before returning to her own business across the village square. "Though I can't guarantee the elders' patience."

Snow slapped a hand on Tidus' shoulder and watched Lulu go. "They still haven't forgiven you."

"I think they have," Yuna said, "They just don't want to show it, yet. Lulu never resented you at all for it, either. I think she blamed herself more than anything."

Snow accidentally summoned some snowflakes with a wave of his hand which he found to be strangely comfortable. The cold burst offset the intense summer heat before dissipating. "That can't be right," he said. "We all celebrated the pilgrimage."

"Not again," Tidus groaned. "Man, it's getting worse, isn't it?"

Snow flexed his hand. "I don't know. I haven't been paying that much attention."

"What's this?" Yuna asked.

"Snow here's been having magic control issues," Tidus said. "I'm trying to train him out of it, but it's been kind of slow going. We've got Lulu on the job, too."

"Oh," Yuna said. "Well, if anyone's going to find the answer, it'll be Lulu."

"Yuna!" Lulu called. "It's getting late!"

"Yes! Of course!" Yuna gave Tidus a quick hug before turning after Lulu. "I'm coming!"

"So," Snow said once she was out of earshot. "When's the date, again?"

"Shut up!" Tidus punched him in the arm. "We're not rushing anything!"

" _I'll_ say."

Snow felt a wave of déjà vu crash over him. "We've talked about this, right?" he asked.

"Dozens of times."

"You're going to Luca, too, right?" Chuami asked. Tidus started – he'd almost forgotten these two were still here. "I mean, we're heading out around the same time, anyway."

"Oh," Kurgum said, looking at Snow. "You're also a player, aren't you?"

Snow punched his own fist. "You betcha! Tidus has been playing longer, but I can promise I'll make them win this year!"

"Yeah," Tidus said. "Because we haven't been doing that."

"Hey!" Snow grabbed Tidus in a headlock. "What are you saying, kid?"

Tidus tried to fight him, but Snow's strength surprised him. "I've been playing longer! I'm better!"

And his grip was _cold_. Tidus felt it radiating off his friend's skin. "Speaking of," Tidus said, getting desperate for an exit. "We gotta get started if we want to get any work in!"

"Right." Snow released his hold and waved to the councilmen. "Catch you later!"

Kurgum gave a hasty bow as they left. "Good luck to you!" he called after them.


	3. Chapter 3

Leblanc sat in the shadowed confines of her bedroom, staring at the lovely statue of Nooj that sat at the other end. The vine-like patterns that stretched and twisted around her room felt akin to entrapments, binding her here and forbidding her leave to Bevelle. Bevelle, where Nooj worked with the Council on political shenanigans.

She knew that even if she came to the city, she would get the exact same response as before: "He's busy with a meeting now," "he's busy working with the chancellor," etc. etc.

They didn't let the poor man have a life. Instead they barred him from visitors and distracted him with "pressing matters," like which town got which resources. Like it even mattered. Didn't they know that the locals could take care of themselves? Guadosalam did well enough. But then, she could fault the other towns for not being as natural at leadership as she was.

A knock sounded at the door and Leblanc groaned, leaning back. " _What_?" she snapped.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, my lady," said one of her female agents. Leblanc heard her open the door. "But there's a woman here asking to see you."

"Tell her I'm too busy to be bothered."

"Yes, ma'am." The agent closed the door again and Leblanc heard her footsteps retreat down the stairs.

Leblanc turned her attention back to Nooj's statue. "How do you do it?" she asked him. "How do you let people walk all over you like that?"

It was so good of him, so pure, but she couldn't help the feeling that maybe he was letting his kindness go too far. He didn't know when to draw the line like she did. He didn't know when to stand up for himself. The world had sucked that virtue out of him like the juice from a plump ennelfruit. He only had so many years left in him, the poor man, and Leblanc wanted those decades to herself.

With a long sigh, she closed her eyes, wishing only for the world to right itself while she wasn't looking. For a moment, she could pretend that it would fix itself without her help. She wished she didn't have to do everything herself.

Another knock sounded at her door. "My lady," the same agent as before said slowly. "I hate to bother you again so soon, but that visitor is still here. She says-"

"I don't _care_ what she says," Leblanc hissed. "Make her go away!"

"That's just it, my lady. She won't leave, she… has ways. We can't even touch her."

Leblanc heaved herself back into a sitting position. "Fine," she said. "I'll go deal with her, but I'll be having a word with you and the others that failed to get her out. Honestly, if you can't make one lousy intruder go away, what's the point of having you all?"

"I'm sorry, my lady." The agent dropped to one knee as Leblanc passed.

She shook her head in disgust. "You'll know what that means," she said. "That's for sure."

She dismissed the thoughts of her beloved Nooj for now and focused instead on how she would make this hurt last as long and hard as she could for this insufferable guest. Perhaps she could pull out some devices for truth-telling and extract personal secrets – slander was a supreme motivator when it came to getting fools like this off her back. Or maybe she would threaten this person with some of her trusty contraptions made for intimidating opponents into leaving her alone.

No one overstepped their bounds around Leblanc. Not when she had anything to say about it.

* * *

"Straighten your back!" Lulu commanded. She sat on a rock, weaving together an ice sculpture using her magic. He didn't know its purpose or how she pulled such an art off, but he suspected sculpting was a hobby of some kind. "The rhythm of magic can be dangerous when not properly controlled, and if you can't discipline yourself to exercise right, then you'll never be able to fully harness the power of black magic. Its beating is the strongest and most chaotic and I don't want you throwing it around like a child."

Snow sucked in a breath. For what felt like hours, Tidus and Lulu drilled him in different magics, intent on turning the summoning of each element into muscle memory. "Where did this even come from?" Snow managed, wheezing. Casting was _really_ exhausting. "And why does… why does it hurt so much?"

"Don't you get tired of exercising anything else?" Tidus asked, hanging from the branch of a nearby tree. "It's a matter of energy and resources. Gotta strengthen them bones."

Lulu was far more intense as a person and trainer than Tidus, Snow decided as he completed his hundredth pushup. What in the name of Yevon did physical exercise have to do with using magic? He'd tried asking Lulu this once or twice, but both times her answer just confused him. Something about linking the mind and body, but it honestly sounded like something she'd merely made up to satisfy him.

"But…" Snow said, breath coming out in puffs, "... What Lulu's doing… seems pretty harmless."

She spared him a withering glance. "Only because I'm much, much better than you."

The spot they'd taken for training was a small clearing in the forest, littered with fallen branches and some rocks. Snow had previously thrown his shirt to the side when he got too warm, but still sweat trickled down his nose and back.

"Can you feel it in your blood, yet?" Tidus asked, still hanging.

Snow shook his head, straightening. His breath slowly returned to normal. "What does that mean?"

"You didn't explain things correctly, it appears." Lulu sighed. "Rhythm, boys. What is it?"

"Uh." Tidus' face scrunched up in concentration. "It's the reaction of the body to… an outside force. Channeling it, or something."

"Good to see you paid attention during our sessions."

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault you explained it with a lot of unnecessarily long words!" Tidus groaned. "Come on, everyone can feel it. Your body knows what it's doing, so it reacts to the power moving through you. Or something. I don't really get it, honestly, but there's like a beat to every kind of magic. Since you're casting black, it should feel angry and chaotic."

Lulu sighed and continued expanding the pattern hovering in front of her. It had grown several inches in diameter since Snow last saw. Now it was almost the size of her head.

"Geez," Tidus said. "Whatever happened to reading a scroll when you're bored?"

Snow grunted, muscles straining. _One-hundred-six…_

"Can you feel the rhythm, Snow?"

Snow shook his head. "Haven't… had a chance!"

Lulu hummed in bemusement. "That's not good. Even now, your blood should have picked up on it."

 _Twelve..._

"Stop," Lulu said. Snow collapsed to the ground with a small thud. "Why can't you feel your blood pounding?"

Snow struggled into a sitting position. He flicked sweat off his forehead. "Isn't it because I haven't been doing this long enough?"

"Yeah," Tidus said. "That's what we assumed."

Lulu shook her head. The sculpture on her lap melted a little in the sunlight. "Try casting a spell."

Snow moved to summon ice but remembered the ban on that. Instead, he gathered flame in his hands. Something crackled inside him at the motion, deep and ominous, though his veins never surged like he thought they would. Yet the fire still came. It sprang to life in his hands as a tiny vortex of orange light. "Still not feeling anything."

"You sure?" Tidus asked. "Not different at all? Maybe you're not getting into the spell right…"

Snow scrunched up his face. It was hard to tell. He didn't _feel_ different at all. "Cooler? I guess?"

Lulu frowned. "Make something bigger."

He closed his eyes, focusing. _Bigger_. When he opened them again, he channeled _into_ the flaming form. It exploded, edges blasting outward to lick at the ground and surrounding foliage. Lulu patted her dress down, though Snow didn't think it affect her at all.

"And?" Lulu asked.

"I feel better."

"Better."

Snow nodded. "It feels good. What can I say?"

"Sounds like Rhythm," Tidus said. "That part does, at least."

Lulu's face scrunched up like she smelled something bad. Snow frowned. "Not meaning to do it wrong," he said. "I'm sure I'll get it right with a few more tries."

She shook her head. "The way you feel it is not what bothers me. It is the reason why that…" She hesitated, and leaned forward, clasping her fingers under her chin. "Is truly… unsettling."

Snow dismissed the fire in a puff of smoke. "Why?"

"Because everyone knows it."

"Maybe his is quiet?" Tidus tried. "I think Yuna's talked about people having quiet rhythms before."

"Yes," Lulu snapped, "but they still find it within days and it's been a month now." She stood up, dress fluttering with the movement. She was considered by many to be beautiful, and Snow could see how they thought that, but he found he didn't care so much for the dark makeup and clothing. It made her look like she was perpetually in mourning. At least now she was a little more covered and less distracting, as opposed to two years ago. He would never focus if she taught him then.

"The rhythm isn't _sound_ ," Lulu said, continuing to pace. "It's a _feeling._ A silent music, one that only you can hear. It does not have a melody or harmony or any of those other things that compose normal music, but is a steady thumping, which changes pace according to the magic being used. Black magic, being made for destruction, is frantic. Believe me when I say that if you had it, you would feel it. Or at least, that is what I've thought until now."

Snow flicked his fingers, sending frost glittering in a small spray of spark-like lights. It didn't change anything.

Lulu folded her arms. "Perhaps, like some people are blind, there are those incapable of feeling their rhythm. It will prove a hindrance to your training and education, but it's not entirely crippling. I'll find a way to work around it."

Snow focused, feeling inside him as he summoned more "sparkles". _Was_ there a difference? He felt a little hungrier, now. But that was normal for anyone, Tidus had told him.

Lulu worked her mouth. "Yes, I can work with this. Well then, when you-" She cut off abruptly, before twitching an eyebrow. " _Yevon_ ," she cursed, "this is going to be a lot harder than I thought."

Tidus blinked, looking at her. "What?"

"I don't know where to go with him, now," she said, taking a seat again and restarting her sculpture. "Keep working with some fire spells so I can see how you do it. We'll have to go about this the hard way."

With a sigh, Snow extinguished the cold inside him and channeled another small flame.

"Again," Lulu said. "Re-light your hand fifty times for me to see."

Snow groaned and started another one. _Two._

 _Three._

 _Four…_

"Are there more of them?" he asked between spells.

"More what?" Lulu asked.

 _Five…_

"Elements."

"Outside of fire, ice, water, and thunder?" Tidus took a seat on a nearby boulder, expression thoughtful. "I assume not."

Lulu shook her head. "Perhaps, but if so, they've been lost to time. It would be dangerous to try to bring back an art like that, but we might yet find evidence if the Machine and History Sect keep on as they are."

Snow summoned another flame and dismissed it. _We're dangerous._ The thought felt familiar to him, but he couldn't say where it was from.

Tidus let himself down from the tree and hit the ground with nimble feet. "They certainly seem focused," he said. "Is there something they're trying to find?"

 _We can win if we stay focused!_

A woman's voice. Who said that? He heard it in his mind, clear as day, but he couldn't find the source of it. Strange memories. Was it from his parents before they died?

"You know," Tidus said while Snow continued summoning and dismissing his fires. "What would _you_ do if your girlfriend was planning to run away to a far-off land full of stuffy airheads and boring scholars?"

Snow barely kept his next flame intact before he puffed it out. He felt like he should be better than this. "I wouldn't know," he said. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"But you've _had_ them.

"And none of them lasted." Snow tried another one. Why didn't it work? It felt like it should come so easily.

"He's right," Lulu said. "He's the last person you should go to for romantic advice."

"What about you?" Tidus asked, circling around Snow as he let another fire out. "Do you think I should try to stop Yuna?"

Lulu looked up from her sculpture. "Yuna's not remotely interested in Bevelle – she's rejected the Council leaders time after time again. I doubt you have anything to worry about her running off."

"Then how about you scare off the world leaders?" Snow asked. He hit twenty-five and took a break to play with some icicle spells.

"I don't know," Tidus said. "But that's a good idea. I could do political stuff. Maybe say something they don't want me to say. Expose secrets, that kind of thing."

"Do you _have_ secrets to expose?"

"Not yet. But I could make something up. I'll teach them to bother my girlfriend without permission!"

Snow laughed. "Man, this is the _Council_. You're gonna need something huge to get their attention."

"Something _huge_." Tidus dropped to the ground. "What if I say they're selling weapons?"

"They're not selling weapons," Lulu said, looking up. "And I should hope you're not so stupid as to try to undermine Bevelle's authority."

Snow tried summoning another fire as Tidus came up with a retort against Lulu. She wasn't having any of it. Snow swore as his fire puffed out again within moments of conjuration.

 _I don't know my focus… I'll turn into a monster._ Another ghost of a memory.

Snow inhaled sharply, summoning more ice for the cooling sensation of it running along his skin. The girl. Not Yuna going on her pilgrimage. A girl that was supposed to do something without any instructions. The gods charged her with an impossible task and she would die if she failed.

"Hey!" Tidus jumped. "Snow! What are you doing?"

"Let it happen," said Lulu. "We'll see where it goes."

He shook his head as the air around him chilled. He had to focus. He couldn't afford to think about the girl's wintery blue eyes and strawberry hair and-

Snowflakes touched Snow's skin.

He looked up at the sky. It was clear, but small white flakes dusted the ground beneath him and speckled his clothes and skin. _Get him home._

Clouds rumbled, blocking the sun. Rain sprinkled across the muddy road. Snow let it soak into his clothes. Why did he feel so alone? _Protect us all. Save Cocoon._

Why did he feel like he'd failed at something? Something critical? Something catastrophic? _Good job so far._

With a cry of frustration, Snow released a blast of cold. The ground below him froze and the rain and waterfall crystallized, dropping to the ground with the thud of hail.

It was a fleeting dream, of no consequence! Exercising the power in him, Snow pushed his control _out_ , forcing the weather around him to stop.

All snow and hail froze in midair, stuck in motion. The air shimmered as light hit the floating drops, creating a similar effect to hanging sheer curtains against the setting sun.

Snow pulled everything closer before releasing a burst of heat to melt it all back into the dirt. The ground grew dark and wet as the rain sloshed against it, vanishing from the cloudless sky. And then it all stopped.

Breathing heavily, Snow surveyed the damage as Lulu and Tidus both cast him shocked looks. None of the surrounding foliage had been hurt, though some of the ground was turned up from his practice. The mud beneath his boots was the only remaining testament to his outburst.

"Dang," Tidus said with an impressed whistle. "Maybe not having a rhythm is worth it."

Lulu sniffed and returned to her work. "As if this all wasn't complicated enough."


	4. Chapter 4

Tidus hadn't taken a boat since the pilgrimage. Normally the _Celsius_ crew would offer to take him anywhere he needed to go, and they were more than happy to do it.

He grimaced as the ship lurched on a wave, and Yuna gave him a sympathetic look. They stood together, watching the ocean churn beneath them. He didn't get seasick before he came back from the dead – he would have to craft a strongly-worded letter to the Fayth for misremembering that part.

"I thought you liked machina," Snow said, coming up beside them.

Tidus started. "What? No, just… getting used to it again. Also, Yuna's ignoring me."

She jumped. "What?"

Tidus gestured to the councilmen standing a ways off. "You've done nothing but stare at them for the past hour."

"Oh, that?" Yuna flushed. "It's just bothering me; besides what they told me in the temple, they've been very quiet. And Lulu said Chuami's hiding something."

Snow shrugged. "Probably hiding her political opinions, if you know what I mean. Haven't you heard? Besaid is full of complacent idiots. We're the only ones not bothering to get involved with outside politics."

Yuna hummed absently, glancing to the two standing sentry at the point of the ship. Kurgum returned the look with blatant admiration shining in his eyes that evaporated when he caught sight of Tidus.

"He's obsessed with you," Tidus said. "I hope you realize."

"Huh?" Yuna startled, snapping out of her reverie. "Really?"

"Oh, yeah," Snow said, nodding. "I'm willing to bet ten gil that he'll ask for your autograph before the journey's over."

"Yup," Tidus agreed. "In fact, I'll raise you ten gil and say he'll do it before the day is over. Five more if he uses the words 'love' and 'marry.'"

"Yeah," Snow scoffed, rising to his feet. "But I betcha it'll take until the end of the night. Wake me up when I can congratulate you two."

"Snow!" Yuna protested as he sauntered away. Snow waved a hand dismissively and she turned back to Tidus. "You're joking."

"Well… I don't know about marriage."

"You don't have to worry about anything," Yuna said. "I don't reciprocate."

"Of course, you don't!" Tidus laughed. "How could you when I'm here? … Right?"

She pecked him on the cheek, prompting a smile. "I don't."

The horizon glinted in the bright orange glare of the setting sun. The temperature dropped a couple of degrees to something more manageable, but the late summer heat still made Tidus wish he'd gotten a ride on the altitude-chilled _Celsius_.

"I'm sorry," Yuna said, taking his arm. "I hope you don't feel like I'm leaving you."

"What, in Luca?" Tidus shrugged. "It's the first game since I got back, but these _do_ happen every year. I'll hold you to your promise that you won't miss the next one."

"I hope I don't." Yuna looked away. "So long as this meeting doesn't turn into anything unexpected."

"Baralai's a pampered priest kid," Tidus said. "Tell him you're not doing this again and he won't be able to hold you back."

Yuna bowed her head. "He's not a pampered priest."

Tidus felt a twinge of jealousy. How did the two know each other so well? Yuna told him about the thing with Vegnagun, glazing over several details like Shinra being possessed and put in his current condition, and Paine being an assassin of some kind, but she had made it sound like _Baralai_ was supposed to be the enemy in the story. Why defend him? "He's inconsiderate, at least," Tidus said. "It's his fault you won't be there for the tournament."

She looked him in the eyes. "What if it really threatens Spira?"

Tidus stifled a groan. "You can't really believe that."

"Our track record isn't exactly encouraging."

He sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "It was only twice."

"Only twice that the world was at stake."

Tidus remembered Yunalesca's chilling wail as she dispersed to that plane of nothingness, and the way she pinned Spira's fate on them. "You think it has to do with the spirits appearing in the Moonflow?"

"I don't doubt it. They'll at least bring it up while I'm there."

Tidus wasn't sure what to say to that, so he remained silent and took a moment to simply enjoy having Yuna so close he could smell the incense on her.

"I think I'll also go," Yuna said after a while, disconnecting from him. "I could use some rest."

"I can't come?"

She chuckled and touched his shoulder. "I said I need to rest."

"Fine." He gripped her hand one more time. She leaned in, pressing her lips to his for a moment before pulling away and disappearing below decks.

The deck felt a lot emptier without her. Tidus sighed, resting his head on his hands and staring out across the ocean. Back in Zanarkand, he made excuses to get out of every girl's second date. Looking back on it now, he wondered why.

"Pardon me," someone said and Tidus spun to find Kurgum standing before him, hands clasped together in front of him.

"Hey," Tidus said, forcing a smile. "What's up?"

Kurgum shifted his feet and swallowed. How old _was_ the kid? "I wanted to apologize. I can see this upsets you and Lady Yuna."

Tidus cocked an eyebrow, turning to face the kid full on. He propped an elbow on the ship ledge to look a little more relaxed. He was half-afraid if Kurgum tensed up any further, he would snap like a twig. "What makes you think that?"

"You regard the Council with open disdain." He looked Tidus in the eye with visible reluctance. "And I don't want there to be ill feelings between us."

"Of course, I do," Tidus said. "The Council is a shady group and I don't trust them."

"Even though they united the world?"

"Yevon did the same thing."

Kurgum hesitated. "I'm sorry. I can't change your opinion." His hands trembled despite his white-knuckled grip on his staff and the strength in his voice.

Tidus worked his mouth for a moment. What was he supposed to say? "I don't hate the Council," Tidus said finally. "I just don't agree with everything it does."

Kurgum chewed on his lip. "I'm sorry."

"But I'll try to be more respectful in the future." It took some work to force the words out, and Tidus didn't believe himself when he said it.

Kurgum glanced away. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, man."

The kid took a deep breath. "Did you really come from Zanarkand? I've heard about it from so many others, but I still couldn't believe it unless I asked you. You see, I have ancestors from there, and-"

"Yes," Tidus said. "I came from Zanarkand. I'm a thousand-year-old grandpa."

Kurgum nodded as color returned to his face. "You wouldn't happen to have known a Selendil, would you?"

Tidus tightened his mouth into a fine line. The sun sunk below the horizon, bathing the air in a purple color. "It's hard to say. I met a lot of people in my time – being a Blitzball star makes it difficult to remember faces."

"Oh."

"I don't like it."

Kurgum perked up. "You don't like being a world-famous Blitzball player?"

Tidus shook his head. "Not the player part – I hate that I can't remember everyone's faces."

He didn't elaborate, instead watching the water beneath the boat and studying the way the morning light reflected off the ocean's broken surface. Kurgum joined him, resting his arms across the railing with his staff nestled between his arm and shoulder. He didn't say anything further, and Tidus couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable at the silence.

"So," he said. "Bevelle. How is it?"

"I think it's doing well," Kurgum said. "But I worry about our leaders, sometimes. Nooj is unwell, as is the chancellor."

"Aren't they always?"

Kurgum blinked and furrowed his brow. "What does that mean?"

Tidus made swirling motions with his finger. "Aren't they a little crazy?"

"If you're referring to the events surrounding Vegnagun, it continues to affect them both, but only on a shallow level. I've never seen them act out of character from it."

"Huh." Tidus turned back to the ocean. "Never would have guessed."

"A lot of people misjudge them."

"That's exactly what one of their lackeys would say."

"Lackey?"

"Lackey."

"Fair enough." Kurgum chewed on his lip for a moment. "But how would they remain in power if they were crazy?"

Tidus scratched at his scalp. "Yevon pulled it off. And he was pretty much dead the whole time."

"Weren't you, too?"

"Oi." Tidus cast him a suffering look. "Who told you that?"

"Chuami." Kurgum pursed his lips. "But she also has a bad habit of spreading gossip that turns out to false later."

"Yeah. See, I wasn't dead."

Kurgum bowed his head. "I should have known that."

"Nah." Tidus looked out across the ocean, which had grown dark. "You couldn't have known."

None of them could have.

* * *

 _Save us._

"Boss?"

Snow startled back to reality at a nudge from Jassu. After parting with Yuna on the _Troman_ , they'd found a reputable place to eat near their hotel – a small restaurant known for its salads. The tables and floor were made of a nice and polished wood, though it smelled like smoke and must. He could feel the water below them pushing against the floor of the building.

"What?" Snow asked.

"It's good luck," Letty was saying, "Eye on the goal, ya? You can't even see the rim of the roof from here!" He stood and pushed away from the table with Botta following him.

"They're upset about where we sat," Jassu said as Letty and Botta took a spot at another table. "Ignore them, ya?"

The door burst open to admit Tidus and a small, blonde girl that trailed behind him. The team erupted into cheers at the sight, and several of them ran to meet him. The waitress – a young, pretty girl with light brown hair tied in a neat ponytail – brought them water whilst casting disbelieving looks around her.

Snow wasn't going to let Tidus stop him from eating. "I'll have the shrimp salad," he said, catching the girl's attention. "And water's great, thanks." The waitress turned to the others, but their words drowned out in Snow's ears as the small girl that accompanied Tidus came Snow's direction.

He didn't have to make room, as she managed to slide in next to Datto, who fidgeted at her proximity. She was a plain girl, with blonde hair pulled into a mess atop her head and wrapped with a tight cloth. Golden locks fell into her eyes and dark splotches smudged her clothes. That, added to the tough and sloppy nature of her clothing indicated a familiarity with either machines or construction or both. The swirling patterns in her eyes left Snow suspecting the former.

"Hey!" she said, looking at Snow. She spoke in a high-pitched and lightly accented voice. "You look like Al Bhed!"

Datto and Jassu looked at Snow, the former with shock and the latter with a raised eyebrow.

"I never met my parents," he said, "but it would have to be only partial. Don't have the eyes, you know."

"You're also a little big." The girl grinned and held up a hand. "Rikku. Nice to meet you."

"Whoa, wait." Snow hesitated. " _The_ Rikku? One of Lady Yuna's guardians?"

"Oh, yeah." Rikku leaned back, looking smug. Tidus kept behind her and took to her left and mouthed " _she's crazy_ " while pointing in exaggerated gestures.

Snow laughed at Tidus, and Rikku took the cue to look behind her. Tidus made a show of innocence, looking at the windows as if they were the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Jassu asked her.

"Oh, you know," Rikku said, snapping back to attention. "I'm a mechanic. I've been helping the stadium off and on for the past year or so. Upkeep is a pain in the butt, so they hire a bunch of people like us to keep the stadium in good condition, so nothing goes wrong during tournament season."

"What kind of things go wrong?" Datto asked.

Rikku scoffed. "Nothing, really. It's all safety precautions, like making sure every emergency lever works. Really, the worst thing that could happen is the sphere loses cohesion and hits the floor in a big pool. Or it could get a little chilly if we don't check the temperature control, I guess. Or it could get foggy if the tubes don't get cleaned regularly."

Datto looked satisfied and settled back, though Snow's stomach lurched with the motion of the water below them.

"So," Rikku said, looking at Tidus. "You have a possible Al Bhed on your team."

Tidus shrugged. "Having blonde hair doesn't make you Al Bhed."

"It will add some diversity, though," Rikku said, looking back to Snow, her smile unfaltering. "People have been complaining about the mono-ethnical nature of teams like the Aurochs."

Jassu gave her a pointed look.

"You don't count," Rikku said to him. "You dye yours."

"So does Tidus," Jassu said.

Rikku paused. She looked at Tidus, who grinned, looking smug. "Did you really not know?" he asked.

Rikku continued staring. "No? Geez, I guess that explains your roots."

"What did you think it was before?"

"I don't know! I thought maybe Zanarkand hair worked differently from ours!"

"Where could you possibly get that assumption from?"

"Hey," Jassu said to Snow. "Are you okay?"

Snow paused. "What?"

"You look pale."

Datto nudged Jassu. "He always looks pale. Guy needs to get outside more."

"Yo, I _live_ outside," Snow said. "And I'm feeling fine." His head hurt a little, and the nausea from the ship persisted, but…

"Well, no wonder," Jassu said. "They gave you iced water, ya? Who drinks that?"

"No." Rikku stood. "You _really_ don't look good. We should take you back to your room."

Snow shook his head. "I'm fine, we should-"

"She's right," Tidus said, suddenly serious. "You're turning green."

The room rocked, and Snow grabbed the table. Souls Send him, he thought that the restaurant was based on a boat. Apparently, that was his imagination.

Voices from his dreams echoed in his mind. _Too stubborn to -_

"Come on, brudda." Jassu and Datto grabbed Snow by the shoulders and hefted him to his feet. Snow only noticed then how little strength he had in his legs.

"We'll take it to go, thanks," Jassu said to the waitress, who had returned with their order and watched them get up. She looked confused at first, working her mouth silently, but then after seeing Snow, realization seemed to settle in and she walked away with the food, presumably to put it in a box.

Snow's vision swam and he stumbled along beside Jassu and Datto. The rest of the team started at seeing them leave and leapt to their feet but settled down again at something Tidus said. Rikku and Tidus came with Snow and they stepped out in the thick air of Luca.

"How long have you been ill?" Rikku asked as they hauled him again. "Oh! I almost forgot! Here." She pulled a sphere out of her bag. "For Yunie. Paine wanted her to have it."

Tidus accepted it. "What is it?"

"A dress sphere, dummy. One that Yunie often used during our travels. I think it's supposed to be a gesture of goodwill."

It was a stranger sphere than Snow had seen before, with swirling patterns inside that churned and coalesced into vague shapes reminiscent of different people's faces. Tidus pocketed it. "I'm sure she'll like it," he said.

"So." Rikku directed her attention to Snow. "You're that nervous, huh?"

"What?" Snow said. "Me? Nervous? Who do you take me for, kid?"

"A normal person!" Rikku gestured to the stadium in the distance. "Isn't it your first time? Anyone would be sick to their stomach!"

"It's not that," Snow said. "I must have eaten something bad on the ship."

"Maybe," Tidus said. "That fish they gave us didn't taste really fresh to me."

A teen with a long staff and wearing green stripes stopped Tidus. "Hey," the kid huffed. "Where's the closest hub?"

Snow traded looks with the others. "Hub?"

Rikku shook her head. "If you're talking airhubs, it's in Djose. Sorry."

"How can I get there?"

"Follow the northern road." Tidus pointed behind them. "And keep going past Mi'ihen. It's after Mushroom Rock."

"Right." The kid shouldered past them, swinging his staff.

"Anyway," Rikku said. " _I_ would blame it on the anxiety. Performing in front of people is the worst!"

"Yeah," Tidus said. "But not for you, right?"

Rikku gave a dismissive gesture as they came up on their hotel. "Sometimes."

"I would like to see that," Datto said. Jassu nudged him, but Snow couldn't say he disagreed. Rikku had all the personality for a pop star, even if her hobbies didn't exactly suit the lifestyle.

As soon as they got inside their room, Snow promptly dropped onto the bed, exhaustion taking him.

Tidus and the others took the chance to eat, but Snow couldn't find the appetite. He probably should have at least gotten up and showered, but he didn't want to stand. The world swam in his eyes, and instead he gave in to troubled sleep and dreams.

* * *

When Snow woke again, he didn't feel much better.

The sun broke over the rim of the window's ledge, spilling light over the ground surrounding Snow's bed. Tidus was there, stretching nearby, and the room looked larger than he remembered, with four other occupied beds. He yawned, covering his eyes with one arm as dreams faded from his mind.

He'd seen that girl again, the one with the pink hair, though some part of him thought that she acted different to how she usually did. Like she wasn't the same person this time. Instead of giving him gentle words he couldn't remember, he received steely silence. He couldn't say why that still felt so familiar.

"Snow, come on!" Snow let in a crack of light to see Tidus standing over him and kicking the frame. "We need to get a leg up on these guys!"

Snow groaned. "Of course, kid," he said, hauling himself to the edge of the bed. "Yevon, my head is pounding."

"No excuses allowed! Today is the _day_!" With that Tidus walked away to harass Letty. "Hey, are you even awake? Let's go!"

Snow stood, stretching. The game. Right.

He forgot his headache for a moment as he threw on his uniform and joined the rest of the team leaving the room. They had scheduled a couple of practice rounds before the tournament proper began, so it would be best for them if they got those done before breakfast. They could eat once the sphere started filling.

Outside, Luca was alive with the sound of excitement and anticipation. Despite the early hour, the streets filled with bustling game-goers that took their chance to explore Luca's shops and venues. Musicians showed their skill in the streets to the passers-by in the form of jaunty tunes and dozens of small shops had set up stands along the street to enjoy the easy attention.

Snow smiled as he followed his team out toward the stadium to get their gear. They had a better show to put on.

* * *

Kicking his feet up on the table, Tidus dropped his head against the backrest and groaned, "Where did they learn to _shoot_ like that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Snow said, joining him. "They were last place in the polls only last week."

"Hey, Jassu! You don't think the Beasts were cheating today, do you?"

"Not from where I could see. They got pretty good, boss."

"Got good." Tidus scoffed. "Right. But we're going to get better, aren't we?"

"Yes, sir!"

Tidus nudged the table with his feet. "Not gonna do us much good for this one, though. If we can't take this next game, we're toast."

"That's why we're going to take it," Snow said. "No point in not…" Snow looked up to the ceiling, then down to the floor, then at Tidus, then back to the floor, and finally fixed his eyes on the entrance to the arena. "… Winning."

Tidus pretended not to notice the strange delay. "You're right! Who do we think we are, guys? The Besaid _Losers_?"

"No, sir!" came the rallied cry.

When Snow blinked again, his hands twitched in a slight startle. "What?"

The PA interrupted their conversation. "Kilika Beasts and Besaid Aurochs, please report to the arena. I repeat, Kilika Beasts and Besaid Aurochs, please report to the arena."

Squaring his shoulders, Tidus stood and led the team out to the entry bubble. With a reassuring pat on the shoulder to Snow, he turned his gaze to see the Kilika Beasts floating toward the center of the stadium. Signaling to the team, Tidus leapt from his position and water enveloped him as he plunged into the sphere.

The water felt colder to Tidus than before, but within moments, they wouldn't notice, not with the workout they would get.

They gathered at their respective stations while the other team's captain, Vuroja, flicked his fingers in either a mock salute or a sign of good fortune – Tidus assumed the former – and too soon a whistle sounded while the ball whizzed through the water.

Letty got the ball first, earning some leers from the enemy, and dove out of the way of the initial grasps.

Following the patterns that they had established, Tidus made for the path between Letty and the enemy goal, meeting up with Datto halfway. He took Tidus' signal to protect the path to their home goal.

Turning his attention back to Letty, Tidus watched him prepare a shot. As he did, one of the Beasts appeared out of nowhere and tackled Letty in the stomach.

Tidus didn't wait to see who ended up with the ball. Abandoning his post, he shot forward. He kept moving even as the Beast took a napshot at Snow and the goal. It connected with Snow's torso but bounced backward. Letty took the ball back.

Snow was out. Letty took a quick survey of his surroundings.

Tidus bit his lip. They couldn't afford to let the Beasts approach home until Snow woke up.

After a signal from Letty, Tidus took a shot from him. Catching it with ease, he watched Letty gesture behind Tidus. Some of their tacklers must have been coming up on him. Tidus made to pass to Datto, who caught it. The ball sailed through the water and then Tidus went for his position right by the enemy goal again, hoping Datto would get the idea.

The two or three Beasts narrowed in on Datto, who could take all of them. Tidus tensely waited to see what Datto would do and treaded water to keep steady. He had to keep moving or the cold would settle in.

Datto passed.

If he weren't underwater, Tidus would have sighed in relief. Instead he watched the ball skip past all Beasts, with barely one or two hands touching it on the way. Tidus caught it and turned to shoot it into the goal.

His skin prickled with cold, which he found a little annoying as he'd expected to warm up by now. He landed the ball in the goal while the enemy keeper tried in vain to knock it away.

Tidus returned to position and tensed in preparation for the ball.

It released again, shooting through the water like a huge, white bullet.

Vuroja grabbed it this time, but Datto wasted no time barreling into him, leaving a trail of sparkling bubbles in his wake. Tidus motioned for Botta to take the goal while Tidus followed Datto.

Tidus stopped again, blinking. Tiny crystals sparkled and floated all around him, and he looked to see Letty, Botta, and Jassu moving to cut Vuroja off before he could reach their goal. Datto was farther off, moving to flank their goal with Botta.

Tidus grit his teeth against the cold and watched Vuroja break free of all three of his blockers. Datto broke from his position and moved to tackle Vuroja while the edge of the dome behind him turned frosty white.

Tidus hit his nose on something sharp. Eyes refocusing despite stars appearing in his vision, he grabbed a jagged icicle from the ball's path. Tidus glanced toward Jassu, who targeted Vuroja. Blood pumping with magic, Tidus melted the icicle with a small fire spell.

Something was wrong. Silently cursing, Tidus moved to signal, to catch Datto's attention, but instead Datto moved to catch up to Vuroja before he could reach Botta. The Aurochs had a goal. They only had to make it two more minutes to win. Tidus broke formation to protect base. Two minutes to keep them from scoring. So long as they didn't tie and risk allowing ten to twenty minutes for the-

The distorted sound of a loud _ding_ rolled through the water and Tidus felt his heart sink to his stomach. Vuroja scored and they were almost down to one minute. Glancing around, Tidus saw the edge of the sphere had grown noticeably whiter. Tidus darted for the center of the sphere. Arriving almost right on top of where the ball would launch again, he waved his arms as long and hard as he could despite the force of the water.

Both teams looked at each other, then looked at him. Confusion rippled through the players and outside the muffled sound of the announcers quieted.

The ball didn't appear again.

Tidus rubbed at his shoulders, curling in on himself. How was the cold spreading so _fast_? He pointed to the edge, where the white kept spreading, faster than before.

More confusion. Some of the players shrugged at each other, a couple of the Kilika Beasts appeared to be holding back laughter. Tidus looked pointedly at Datto, whose eyes narrowed in confusion and then widened in realization. Datto nudged the first player to his side – Botta – and made an inflating gesture after pointing to the white splotch. Snow had woken and joined them, and he helped to spread the word.

Tidus glanced to the outside again. Where only a pale tinge had colored the pool, now a thorough and possibly thick layer had made its way around a fourth of the outside perimeter. The water nipped at his toes, biting into his skin.

Something cracked. Tidus and one the players looked up to see a solid, frosty layer spread out across the upper surface of the dome.

Finally, the realization hit, and chaos erupted. Tidus darted out of the way as both teams leapt to life as a crystal formed in the center, its thin spikes crawling outward in a steady growth of crackling frost.

They weren't moving fast enough. Fingers shivering as they curled inward, Tidus reached deep inside his core, enough for the flame to emerge as a stream of heat bubbles rising from his palms. It burst into a full blast that melted nearby ice and slowed the spread enough for one of the Beasts to swim free of an encroaching ice patch.

That was it. Tidus bit his lips to refrain from gasping as he turned and shot for the exit where the team had slowed down and flailed in a panic.

The exit had frosted over.

Snow moved to punch it, his large fists banging against the ice. Joining him, Tidus summoned heat to wear it down. The fractured image of one of the technicians could be seen working at the control panel. Fear fueled Tidus' veins and he pushed another flame spell on the exit. The ice immediately gave way and the team finally fell into warm air.

Choking, Snow was the first to get up again. "What about the others?" he gasped. "How are they going to get back?"

The technician, an older man armed with a radio and some varied tools, said, "The other side has someone superheating the entrance bubble."

A deep rumble sounded behind them and Tidus looked to see the entire sphere lose form and collapse into a torrent of rain that crashed into the ground far below them, carrying with it the Kilika Beasts.

Ice floated and broke apart once the stadium filled, though screams of shock filled the air. Emergency personnel filled the pool, providing rafts and floaters to attendants.

Tidus panted, still cold despite the adrenaline gushing through his veins. He gasped out a laugh. "I guess we'll have to call that one a tie."

"They're not gonna continue the tournament, brudda," said Jassu. "Not after this."

"Huh?" Datto jumped to his feet. "They can't cancel it, ya? What will they do about all the tickets and stuff?"

"I don't know." Jassu pulled himself to his feet and walked to the guarded ledge where the entrance bubble was. The Beasts each climbed into the stands, which was slowly evacuating despite numerous gawkers.

"They'll take care of it," Tidus said, wiping water from his face. He shook his hair out before accepting a towel from one of the staff workers. A lot of them were Al Bhed, but there was the occasional Spiran mixed in, and they all appeared remarkably calm save a few impatient shouts down the hallway.

He looked to the pool at the bottom of the stadium, where the water level slowly receded. The built-in drains on the floor would take care of that.

"That's weird," Snow said. Tidus glanced at him, noting the sickly pallor of his skin. Snow looked back with an apology in his eyes and Tidus pursed his lips before shaking his head. No one would believe them for mentioning the possibility anyway, but he didn't dare voice the suspicion.

"At least they didn't win," Tidus said. "That would have been disastrous."


	5. Chapter 5

Tidus sat on a bench outside the stadium. Crowds filled the streets, their excited and anxious chatter filling the Lucan air. Around him were screens showing reporters in front of the drowned stadium, sharing in rushed tones a summary of what they saw.

A man with purple-streaked blond hair and black clothes sat near him. Though… his face seemed almost too clean to be a dude's. Must have been quite a fashionista.

Yuna found him there, and he patted the spot beside him. "You got here quick."

"You attracted a crowd." Yuna sat down and looked about them at the milling throngs. "How are you feeling?"

Tidus sniffed. "Caught a slight cold, but that's going away already. Our boat to Besaid leaves tonight – you should look at Snow while we sail."

"I can't." Yuna hesitated. "I'm going back to Bevelle."

Tidus groaned. " _Why_?"

"The Council-…" She glanced at the man/woman sitting near them, cleared her throat, and lowered her voice. "The Council wants me to mediate between their groups. Being a third party, I can get past some of their animosities, and-"

"You're not supposed to be a _convenience_." Tidus threw his head back. "Even with you refusing to participate in their talks, they want to make you useful. Don't let them manipulate you!"

Yuna deflated. "I know, I just… I want to see this turn out well."

"You can't do that without changing things yourself." Tidus threw himself to his feet and spun to face her. "Come back to Besaid with me, Yuna. They don't appreciate you for what you are over there in Bevelle."

She pursed her lips. "Maybe."

Tidus fought a losing battle and he knew it. Yuna would always choose the people over him – the good of the many. He swallowed against the constriction in his throat and changed the topic. "Oh, hey." Tidus fished Rikku's sphere out of his bag. "I was told Paine wanted you to have this?"

Yuna's eyebrows shot up in surprise and the blonde guy near them cleared his throat. "Which one is it?"

"Beats me."

She gave it a curious look before she pocketed it. "Psychic, I think. Wonder why Paine doesn't want it anymore?" Yuna chewed on her lip for a long while. Eventually she sighed and stood. "I can't come to Besaid. I'd have to settle things with Baralai and I shouldn't leave him without a warning. And if I go home, I don't know that I could leave again."

Tidus couldn't help a sigh. "Those guys will suck the life out of you if you don't watch them."

Yuna chuckled. "Speaking from experience?"

"Only mostly." Tidus poked her in the head. "More from my experience with you than anyone else."

"I can take care of myself!"

"Oi!" The neighboring man waved a hand. Despite his pretty looks and nondescript voice, his accent was rough and unamused. "Take yer sweetness elsewhere! I'm tryn'a think!"

"Hey!" Tidus said, "We're having a moment!"

Yuna spared the man a bemused look. "It's fine," she said. "I should go say goodbye to the Aurochs, anyway. Where's Snow?"

"Asleep." Tidus scratched at his scalp. "Crashed after the match and hasn't woken since."

"Oh. Well, give him my good wishes, will you?"

"Of course!"

And just like that, she was gone again to the wandering crowds.

Tidus frowned and stood. Despite all the people here, he felt strangely alone without Yuna, like-

Nah, that was just some sappy nonsense. He was fine. He felt fine.

Eventually he returned to the ship and they set off. Snow rested on a cot in the heart of the vessel, so Tidus visited there.

Snow's already-pale skin showed outright ghostly. His skin sheened with sweat and he tossed about on his bed as if plagued by fiends.

"What do you think?" Tidus asked, reclining in his seat. "Bevelle? Could I live there? Would Yuna choose Bevelle in the end after all? I mean, she would, but _would_ she?"

Snow shifted.

"Don't know why, but I've been itching to see Baaj again. Not to live there, of course, but to see it again. Nostalgia, I guess. Haven't been there much since I got here, and it was the first place I saw. Maybe. I don't know, man. Who knows why any of this is happening?"

Snow grunted, coughed, and turned over. Tidus frowned. "Guess you could use some white magic. You know that was never my forte, right? But then, I guess you don't care about that so much. Too busy dreaming about hot chicks, probably."

He sighed and suppressed his own cough. Then summoned a cure and got to work.

* * *

Chuami strode down the path toward the evening-lit Moonflow with a hand on her sword. Kurgum kept up beside her, face steeled in determination. She may not like being a dog for the Council, but she still did what they asked better than anyone else in Bevelle.

Spirits phased in and out of view around them, their ghostly apparitions displaying no small amount of curiosity at the Sender in their midst.

Chuami ignored them. Every step felt like thunder in her veins and every breath like a great wind. She didn't see how this would go well, but she prepared in her head for the worst anyway. Angry words were a pain to deal with, but she reminded herself that she could deflect them as easily as anything else. Kurgum was the bigger concern.

When they found the large crowd that accompanied the strange afterimages by the Moonflow, Chuami inhaled before announcing, "Clear the way!"

Heads turned and voices murmured, while others didn't pay her any heed at all, being distracted by the images fluctuating about the river.

"What's going on?" asked one lady, taking the hand of her child. "What's the Council doing here?"

Chuami spared her a withering glance. "It's a party of Unsent. What did you _think_ would happen?"

The lady gasped. Chuami moved on, nudging Kurgum further. This was his job – she was only here for the formality of it. "Give us some space!" she repeated. This attracted more attention, with some glaring daggers her way.

"It's about time," one man called. "What took you so long? These people have been gawking for days! Honestly!"

"Oh, that's surprising," said another. "You have no one you want to see here?"

"I can see them in the Farplane just fine! That's the way of things, you know. Spirits shouldn't be wandering here on their own. It's not right."

One man punched his fist into his palm and growled, "What's not right is that I can't be with my daughter anymore, you ignorant beast!"

Chuami rolled her eyes as they forced their way through the crowd. "This is gonna be fun."

Kurgum shot her a look with frantic eyes. "It's not looking good."

Chuami shook her head and helped him forward. "It'll be fine. Once the spirits are gone, they'll forget why they came in the first place."

"I don't think that's quite how it works."

"I'd like my home back for once!" cried one woman. "Go to the Farplane to see your friends and leave us alone!"

"Are they finally cleaning the river of this infestation?"

A bellow sounded and a large man shoved his way forward. "My brother and his wife aren't an _infestation_ , slimeface! How dare you?!"

"Let's get this done quick," Chuami said, hurrying forward. Kurgum nodded and followed her to the bank, where it remained mostly clear. Most of the images moved about the road, though they didn't go far. The people could find their lost family members without stepping into the river that may have been an opening into the Farplane itself for all the pyreflies filtering about the place.

Chuami remained in the shallow water while Kurgum jogged out to across the surface of the river toward the center. Pyreflies followed him out, leaving trails of ghostly light in his wake. The mob quieted for just a moment, their reverence for a Sending unforgotten by even their desperation for reclaimed lives.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Chuami watched Kurgum begin dancing. The water reacted to his movement, churning and morphing around him to form what looked almost like a platform out in the-

A rock hit him from behind, knocking him off balance. He stumbled, but kept his footing.

Chuami spun to see the crowed. " _Who_ _did that_?!"

One of the burly men picked up another rock, and some others followed suit. Chuami charged while another shouted, "You hit a _priest of Yevon_!"

"He's no Yevoner, you idiot! He's a councilman! There's a difference!"

"Any priest is Sinspawn!"

Chuami screamed and barreled into one of the big men just as they lobbed another rock. She crashed into him as villagers cried around her.

The man easily rebuffed her, using one hand to push her away and send her sprawling through the dirt.

She scrambled to get to her feet, but the man took her by the hair, causing a flare of searing pain in her scalp, and yanked her down again.

She hit the dirt with a cry, arm crunching beneath her.

Another man jumped on the big one, wrapping his arms around his waist and neck. "Now!"

Chuami choked against the shock heating her eyes and blocking her throat. She pulled herself up again, using her good arm to draw her sword.

The burly man's mouth twitched at the sight as he twisted about to get the other guy off his back.

She struggled with every breath. Her arm felt numb and her shoulder throbbed.

With a shout, she charged and rammed the butt of her blade into the big guy's neck. He dropped, letting the smaller one scurry off his back and back into the crowd. Chuami was pretty sure this one wasn't dead, but she honestly couldn't care less if he was.

The Council would, though.

Fighting that thought down, Chuami rushed back to the bank where Kurgum crawled to shore, blood gushing from his temple and showing through his robes in rips and tears. He looked up at her with glazed eyes.

Chuami dropped beside him and pulled out a potion from her bag. She'd only brought a couple.

"Take this," she said, pulling out the other for herself. Kurgum accepted his with shaking, wet hands. His robes were soaked through and water dripped from his hair and face.

Chuami took hers in one gulp, but Kurgum had barely taken a sip before another stone hit him in the arm and sent the potion shattering to the ground.

Kurgum barely registered what had happened, going by the dull look on his face. Chuami snatched a dagger from her belt and lobbed it into the knee of the woman who'd tossed that one, dropping her.

"Heal yourself," Chuami said, feeling the refreshing sensation of white magic infusing her arm back into place and restoring feeling. It didn't heal the desperation clawing in the pit of her stomach. "I'll cover you."

Sword out, she rushed the next to pick up a rock and knocked it out of the small guy's hands before pummeling him in the stomach with the blunt of her blade and moving on to the next.

She took out two well-dressed women before risking a glance back toward Kurgum, who moved much too slowly. With a curse under her breath, Chuami incapacitated a few men before rushing back to his side.

"We need to get you out of here," she said, pulling him to his feet. His blood soaked into her dress and Chuami clenched her teeth against the sulfuric scent of it filling her nose.

"Kill him!" yelled a woman.

"NO!" Chuami kept one hand holding Kurgum and used the other to brandish her sword as she spun on her heel. Kurgum tripped but she kept him on his feet.

With the scuffle going on behind them, three more of the Anti-Yevoners separated to pick off Chuami and Kurgum. They stopped when Chuami pointed her sword. "I am a _guardian_ ," she reminded them, "and I've killed more fiends than you can count! I've murdered men for my Summoner and I will murder again if I have to!"

They hesitated, doubt showing in their eyes. Chuami continued in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear. "You've offended the Council! But more importantly, you've offended _me_! When I return, I expect you all to huddle back inside your homes and hide from the coming storm because there is _nowhere_ you can hide from the wrath of a Summoner and _his guardian spurned_!"

Not everyone listened, and the Spirans facing her regained their courage and attacked.

Chuami screamed and stabbed one of them in the side. That freaked out the other guy enough to send him scrambling the other way.

Only then did Chuami turn away, using what strength she still had to support Kurgum.

She didn't stop until she found the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6

Tidus watched Snow during the ride back to Besaid. The other man's skin was pale and clammy, and his hands shook whenever he tried to hold something. If his sleeping pattern was bad in Luca, it was worse now. Tidus didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone for fear Snow would get up and wander about the deck in a fever. Jassu thankfully agreed to watch him at night.

"He'd been talking in his sleep back in Besaid," Letty said when Tidus asked. "Mumbling things about a fiancée of his and work he has to do. We didn't think much about it before, but now…"

They were sitting in one of the ship's overnight rooms. The lights were dimmed in the hope of helping Snow sleep and the rest of the Aurochs had gone above deck to avoid disturbing him.

Tidus regretted spending so much time away from the team now. "But he didn't display any other signs of being sick?" he asked Letty, trying to work a cure into Snow's system. It wasn't going well, but Tidus told himself that was his own inexperience with white magic.

Letty shook his head. "He's been training harder than any of us. We thought he was exhausted, ya?"

And it could still be that, Tidus reminded himself. If it got any worse, he would just give him to a more professional white mage. Illness wasn't the biggest threat to people in this time, from what he'd seen.

The cure sputtered out and Tidus cursed.

 _Bring his temperature down,_ a voice said. Tidus knew it to be the same as the one from his dreams. _Get the fever to break and then basic white magic will be more effective._

Tidus cast without thinking. The power of Esuna pulsed in his veins to a steady, calming beat. It channeled directly into Snow's system and Tidus could feel it cleanse the body of offensive forces.

 _Now, try again_.

He tried again to cast cure, arms moving is if by an unseen force. This time he focused on letting the magic flow of its own power and it stuck. He should have felt relief at that, but instead he couldn't help a shiver of discomfort.

"It's working!" Letty exclaimed in surprise. "What changed?"

"I got a little help," Tidus said, finishing the cure. He stood. "Keep an eye on him for me, will you?"

Letty nodded as Tidus left. Letty wasn't worried about Snow dying from this, as far as Tidus could tell. Most Spirans probably held more faith in the priests' white magic than Tidus did. He could only assume that the shock of the cold in the stadium aggravated whatever illness Snow had before, which meant that he should only need a little more rest before he would get back to his old self.

When Tidus found himself on the abandoned deck, the sky was cloudy and dark, hinting at a storm.

"What's up with this?" Tidus asked the open air, directing his question inside himself in the hopes of drawing out that strange white mage. "You can take control of my body, now?"

 _No_.

He looked around him. There was no one there, and yet he heard the voice as clear as day. "Have you been there since I came back?"

 _Yes_.

Then something happened while he was gone. "I thought I was rid of you guys," Tidus muttered. "And I was honestly kind of glad. Is the world in trouble again?"

 _Yes._

"Okay." Tidus turned around to make sure no one else was there before shouting, "Tell me the whole story! Enough single-word responses, man, I need answers! What are you doing here? Why are you appearing in all my dreams and influencing what I do?!"

An image appeared, a ghostly apparition of the same figure from his dreams. The man stood apart from the scenery, his feet not touching the ground, and he glowed an unearthly hue of gold and green. "I don't appear in all your dreams," he said flatly. "I may see them, but I don't influence them."

Tidus huffed. "My point stands!"

"If you so wish to know the whole truth," the man said, "then fine. There's a threat facing us at this time that we cannot subdue on our own power. We need someone in the world of the living to do this for us. Do you know Baaj?"

"Yeah," Tidus said. "It's a bunch of moldy ruins. Why?"

"You must go there, and take Snow with you. I would speak with him as well, except that I cannot communicate with him the way I am now."

"Can't I tell him what you told me?"

"No." The man paced around Tidus, hands clasped behind his back. "I can only show you your own memories. You may understand due to my interference, but it will be much harder to do the same for Snow."

"So, what's in Baaj, then?"

"I can't show you," the man said, "for you have no memory of it. You didn't see it in the time you took refuge within its walls, though I'll tell you that it is a gate of sorts. You will know when you see it. Or shall I say, _Snow_ will recognize it. There is a power that lies beyond that gate that belongs to you both. Do you remember it?"

The image around them changed so that they stood on white-lit water, and Tidus found himself surprisingly comfortable with the shift in perspective. Broken pillars protruded from the surface in scattered pieces throughout the scape. The sky above them was dark and cloudy like that on the ship, though the light bathed a nearby, untouched altar in ghostly white. "What is this place?"

The man stifled a sigh. "You don't remember then."

"But you said you could only use my memories?"

"This _is_ a memory." The man walked forward, clasping his hands behind his back. "It is merely repressed due to forces you don't comprehend anymore. Once, you fought on this very battleground to protect our mutual ally."

"All right," Tidus said. "Now you're getting weird. Can we go back to reality now?"

"This is reality."

"I know it is." The Fayth weren't exactly ones to lie as far as Tidus was aware. "I'm just confused."

"Right." The scene faded to that of the fire-lit and shattered arena where he killed Jecht. "Perhaps you will recognize this place instead?"

"You think I would forget _that_?"

The man walked through the air over to the broken stands. "You didn't only beat your father's Fayth form here. Think hard, Vision. It's there even if you don't think it is."

"Can I have a couple of days first?" Tidus asked, tapping a finger against his waist. "Because this is kind of a tall order for me at the moment."

"You asked for the whole story." The man turned back toward him and nodded. "But yes. I'll let you go so long as you remember to make for Baaj. There is nowhere else where you can find sufficient answers."

Tidus snapped back to reality on the cold, wet deck of the ship, the side of his face planted against the floor. Rain pounded against him, and his clothes were soaked and cold. He coughed, hauling himself to his feet again. His muscles were stiff and his eyes itched like they'd been scratched with sandpaper. "Geez," he said to himself, trying to shake some of the water from his clothes. "A little warning would have been nice."

He dragged himself inside despite the soreness in his muscles and the ache in his neck. Below decks was dry, at least, but it wasn't much warmer. They didn't tend to keep fires lit, for fear of an accident leading to destruction of the whole ship.

Most had gone to bed, which led him to believe it was almost midnight. The cloud cover made it a little harder to distinguish the exact time.

When finally Tidus found the room he shared with the rest of the Aurochs, Jassu was still awake and watching Snow. Tidus shared a sheepish look with him before moving behind a screen and undressing.

Jassu merely raised an eyebrow before whispering, "There's an extra uniform in the closet, if you would like."

Tidus shook his head, pulling his shoes off. "I'll towel off for now," he said, keeping his voice low. He doubted much of anything could wake the Aurochs outside of an explosion, but he was careful all the same.

He hung all his clothes outside of his shirt, which he held onto while starting a small fire spell, contained to his hand. He focused only the heat of the spell to keep it from burning his clothes to a crisp.

Steam rose and his blood pumped faster. It brought back a little warmth, but didn't fix the goosebumps along his skin or the icy feeling in his toes.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jassu asked. "What were you doing out there?"

He put his shirt back on and moved to his overalls, wringing them out before heating them again. Between this and healing Snow, his mana ran low, but he kept going. He was about to sleep anyway. "Death," he said, emerging from the screen. "After going through it once, it kinda sticks with you."

Jassu gave a mirthful smile. "I guess it would." He didn't push Tidus after that.

Tidus put his overalls back on though they were still slightly damp and climbed into bed. Spirans didn't tend to provide very thick blankets, but it would do the job.

Using the last of his mana, he spread a fire spell throughout his system to bring his body temperature back up to a healthy level. He'd barely felt comfortable again when it puttered out, his reserves gone.

The warmth didn't last long, but he also didn't feel so cold anymore. He hoped that would last the night. He also hoped the next day would be warmer.

* * *

Rikku stepped into her workspace with a yawn.

Screws and pipes clattered together to the sound of the rhythmic turning of a thousand gears. The floor was littered with spare parts made of both silicone and steel, and the walls and floor were stained with dark splotches. The rusting remains of what might have been a frame once protruded from the wall like ruined bone while metal arches lined the high ceiling that allowed for the mighty height of the giant red airship resting within while the floor stretched far and wide.

Particles danced in the air with a greyish film and accentuated the glowing orange light of the rising sun showing through a square window cut into the stone of the building's walls. The atmosphere was thick with the smell of gas and a metallic residue.

Stifling another yawn, Rikku went ahead and started up the ladder leading to the deck of the _Celsius_. Covered in scratches that had formed over about four years of abuse, the faded ladder looked more like a collection of scrapped plastic than anything else, a sharp contrast to the deep, rich red of the Celsius.

Entering the elevator leading in, Rikku flipped the switch to illuminate the small space in a faint white glow. As it moved down, she wondered why her father would call her in to work so early when they had at least another day before they had to be in the air again.

Obviously, she could blame it on his ingrained nature of being a slave driver.

To start, she took the main control console and pulled out the diagnostics window. She ran it through routine inspection, checking for any hiccup that might add to a potential cascade failure. Better to be safe than sorry, after all.

As expected, it did little besides voice a warning about the logistical routine for the ship, which Rikku knew to be a break in a circuit relay somewhere. Brother was the one to spot that issue yesterday.

The console gave a couple more warning beeps regarding the fuel injectors and interior lights, but Rikku found those to be inconsequential, so she pressed the disregard option for the fifth time and got to work hunting down the break in the relay.

She traced the pattern to a control panel near the elevator on the bottom deck, which she carefully opened to find a mess of wires and logic boards. The perpetrator, a relay about the size of Rikku's palm, smoked dangerously in its spot and connected to about a dozen wires.

Whistling to herself, Rikku promptly shut the power off to the deck and got to work disentangling the thing.

The door slid open and she heard heavy boots thud their way over, though she couldn't see past the edge of the bulkhead. "There you are!" a loud voice boomed.

She kept her focus on the cables. "Hey, pops."

"I've been looking all over for you! They said the sphere froze right over on your watch!"

"It wasn't my team, Pops. Check the reports."

"Not sayin' it was." Boots thudded again as he turned around. "I was worried that we could end up with some legal issues on our back. What happened? Was there a glitch in the temperature control?"

Rikku shook her head and slid away from the control board. "Dad, I checked that thing ten times over – have you seen the regulation orders? – both before and after. It's what everyone's blaming, but the thing may as well be brand new."

Cid snapped his attention away from the bridge. "What're you saying?"

"I'm saying," Rikku said with a groan, "that it wasn't a technical issue and the news is lying. But who's going to listen to me? I'm not the head technician. No, that was Mr. Relta and he's Spiran, so they trust him even though he doesn't know the first thing about a starter circuit!"

"Only people with brains will listen to you."

Rikku allowed a smile in his direction. "Thanks, Pops. But it still means that there's a problem out there with the stadium."

"Could've been sabotage by magic."

Rikku snorted. "Only Lulu could do that, or maybe Yunie if she had her Black Mage dress sphere. Which she doesn't."

Cid shrugged. "Just a suggestion."

"I'll ask Tidus," Rikku said, sliding back under the control panel. "He might know about someone on one of the teams that's been receiving hate mail or something." She finally got the relay free and looked over the fried switch, frowning. If someone _was_ trying to kill one of the Aurochs, that meant full-blown investigations. The thought sent chills down her spine. "How's Shinra?" she said, changing the subject.

Cid gave a noncommittal grunt. "I haven't seen him much this week. Buddy says he's doing better, but the change is permanent."

She swallowed. Bad idea, talking about him. "He'll get used to it, right? It won't change who he is or what he does or any of that junk?"

"I don't know, kid." Cid sniffed and Rikku heard him shuffle his boots across the metal floor. She yanked out a cord and plugged it back in. Blasted thing needed a reboot.

"So, he'll never be normal again, either," she muttered to herself.

"Doesn't look like it."

That did nothing to improve her mood. "I swear," she said, "I want to smack that thing that took him in its ugly face."

"In case you care," Cid said. "Yelle converted to the Carmine Order. Sands, I don't understand why, but she claims she's happier."

Rikku sighed and gave up on the panel for now. She stepped out from the cover of the bulkhead. Cid had his hands on his waist and a deep frown on his face.

"Yelle," Rikku said absently. She used to know the other girl better before the catastrophic events that destroyed Home. She wondered if the change had anything to do with the religious hype going on, given she hadn't noticed any deific leanings in the girl before. "She's always been a trendsetter, Pops. It's probably a better option than joining the Yevoners."

"Isn't Yevon popular these days?"

Rikku threw her head back with an exaggerated groan. "Not according to every newscast ever. You should watch a sphere sometime – you remember that story about the mother getting killed in front of her daughter?"

"No."

"Well, that mother was a _sympathizer._ Imagine what some of the old believers have to go through."

Cid shook his head. "I don't believe it. If it's not the Al Bhed, it's the Yevoners, then? And if it's not the Yevoners, then what?"

"I'm done talking about this, Pops. Can you show me how to deal with this stupid relay? It's totally fried."

He heaved a sigh that seemed to take all his energy. When he spoke, his voice was strained and weary. "Yeah."

She felt tense as Cid guided her through the process – what was going to happen to them? What if this didn't turn out okay? Did they save the world, only for it tear itself apart through attempted murders and civil war? Because that looked like where it was going. If the hate crimes against Yevoners didn't stop, then what was the point of beating Yevon in the first place? Maybe Spira was doomed to die some way or another. Without Sin, they would find a way to make it happen anyway.

Eventually the console was finished, and Cid left with hardly a word. Rikku scowled as she got to work redoing some of the wiring in the main panel for the closest desk. There wasn't anything critically wrong with the console – she needed the excuse to do something mindless, and refreshing the system here with some blown dust and fresh cords was just what the doctor ordered.

Spirans were stupid. How did they make it through the first years of Sin? How did they not turn on each other out of spite and wipe themselves out before Sin could?

"Idiots," she muttered to herself as she wiped some dust and grease out of an alcove. Seriously, how often _did_ they clean this thing? She would have to look at scheduling a polishing later. She wasn't going to let her ship fall out of the sky thanks to clots of _dust._ Rikku latched the cover back in place and moved on to the desk space.

Everyone should have learned their lesson after Sin – they should have stopped being so stupid and biased. They should have stopped hurting people. They should have learned to repay people instead of changing targets.

How could people be so _dumb_?

* * *

Yuna stood frozen in shock at the sight of Kurgum in the hospital. Bandages wrapped all around his body, many of them stained red. His old clothes laid in a torn and tattered heap on the table beside him, and he was dressed below his chest and down to the feet with simple hospital trousers.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, lighting up the pale and sparse room. Even the dark color of the wood shone brightly in the sun, its deep and reddish color emphasized by the golden rays. The room was otherwise left sparse, with only the bed, a couple of visitor chairs, and some small tables for holding accessories and equipment.

Kurgum's breathing was shallow and his gaze distant. When he caught sight of Yuna, he tried to prop himself up.

"Please," Yuna said, holding up a hand. "No, you have to rest."

"I can't," Kurgum whispered, voice hoarse, as Yuna gently pushed him back down. "The meeting. I'm going to miss the meeting. They're going to talk about the religion sect and I won't be able to make it."

Yuna perked up. "The religion sect?"

Kurgum's breathing evened out, his chest rising and falling in rhythm. "They wouldn't…" His eyes glazed over. "They wouldn't leave me alone. Chuami, she hurt… a lot of people. But there were hunters among the crowd – sympathizers, too. The rage and hate caused a riot."

"And they attacked you?" Yuna asked. "That's terrible."

"How nice of you to say that," snarled Chuami from the doorway.

Yuna chewed on her lip. "I'm sorry. I had no idea they would-"

"Oh, didn't you?" Chuami asked with a sneer. " _Didn't you_? Even with Kurgum lying half-dead on a hospital bed, you run away? Say it, _priestess_ , you _knew_ they would retaliate."

"Chuami," Kurgum rasped. "Chuami, don't-"

"No! I'm going to have my say, for once!" Chuami slammed a fist into the wall, rattling the windows and startling Yuna. "You stupid priests and priestesses and chancellors, you keep sending us out on these mind-numbing errands and all you have to say when one of us comes back injured is 'that's terrible?!' How about you go tell those people what they've done wrong? How about you go be a responsible adult and Send some dead for once?"

Yuna turned to face Chuami. "I have responsibilities to worry about."

"Like _what_?"

Yuna set her jaw. "Like taking care of my people _._ "

"I've yet to see _that_ happen," Chuami said with a snort.

"Look," Yuna bit out. "If you paid any attention to the vows you took swearing into the Council, you would realize that it's not a low position you have Sending souls to the Farplane. I've seen them. In fact, it surprises me that the chancellor would have you do such a work when you clearly don't deserve the chance."

"You don't know!" Chuami shouted. "You have no idea what it's like to be used and abused by the higher powers!"

Yuna stood her ground. "Maybe not. But in case you haven't heard the story correctly, we were branded traitors and _exiled_. We lost two of our friends, one of them for good. While the rest of the world celebrated the end of Sin, we mourned in private for our friends and for those lost at Mi'ihen. We mourned the thousands we couldn't save while the rest of the world enjoyed a Calm they did nothing to bring to pass. Yevon has used and abused _all of us_."

Weak fingers took Yuna's arm, forcing her to stop. Kurgum, eyes barely open, moved his lips but gave no sound when she looked at him.

Yuna rose. "I'm sorry," she said and gestured to Chuami. "We should leave."

"I'll stay here with him," Chuami said, forcing every word through grit teeth.

Yuna sighed. "Fine. As long as he rests." Touching her fingers to the tip of her staff, Yuna whispered a short prayer and rested her hand on Kurgum's forehead. In the divine language, she whispered, "I wish you a quick recovery."

Leaving the hospital felt like stepping out of a prison. In the open and welcoming space of the Moonflow's bank, Yuna found herself by in the small settlement the hospital was a part of. The inhabitants were all either working quietly away inside their homes or away on other errands, as the place devoid of human activity, but the quiet trilling of insects was enough company for her.

A breeze whispered gently over the road, teasing the leaves of the trees. Some pyreflies floated about on the wind, though most kept closer to the water. A few clouds laid scattered across the sky, moving sluggishly forward. It was quiet, here, and safe. Yuna took some small comfort from that as she set out to return to the inn she'd booked for the night.

She'd barely left the hospital before she pulled out her wireless CommSphere and punched in the combination for Bevelle's palace. A receptionist picked up within a few minutes, though his voice and image fluctuated so much she could hardly understand him. "La – Yuna?"

"Get me the chancellor."

"Ye – my – dy!"

She'd barely made it a third of the way back to the inn before Baralai's figure appeared and his voice crackled over the connection. "Is something – matter – Yuna?"

"Yes," she said, a flash of dark magic flickering in her hand. "The councilmen you sent to the Moonflow-"

"I know," he said. "I – sent – at way. The – tay safe – out."

"I didn't catch any of that." She chewed on her lip. "You realize how bad the damage is?"

Hesitation on the other end. "Yes."

"Then _why_?"

"Par–?"

Yuna stopped in the middle of the deserted road, holding the sphere a little closer. "Why did you send them in the first place?"

Baralai sighed and rested his hands together in front of the sphere. "My lady," he said slowly, "We had no – oice because y – only – er option. Where – you? The signal's – nstable."

"Moonflow road."

"Perhaps you cou – somewhere wi – onnection?"

"I'm working on it." Yuna walked on. "Did you know they would do this?"

The distorted image of him bowed his head. "Had – feeling."

As she approached the inn, the signal cleared up a little. The sound was still a little garbled, but she could make out more of his words. "You sent them in," Yuna said, "knowing something like this could happen."

"… Yes."

Yuna took the stairs inside up to her room, passing some people that gawked at the sight of her. "I can't believe you would do that."

"I knew it _could_ happen," Baralai said, leaning back. "I didn't think it _would_."

"Why didn't you send someone with them?" she demanded, dropping onto her bed.

He hesitated. "I couldn't afford to."

"How could you not afford to protect your own people?"

"Our resources are limited, my lady."

"Quit calling me that!"

"Yuna." Baralai pressed his palms together. "You're upset and I'm sorry. But our choices at the moment are limited and our circumstances more so. What would you have us do? Send out Gippal or Nooj instead?"

She inhaled, reigning in some of her anger. "I'm worried about them. How will you take care of Kurgum after this?"

"We have a couple of spare footmen," Baralai said, letting his hands fall flat again on the table. "They'll be arriving any day now to watch the hospital. As soon as Kurgum is fit for travel, I'll have him transported back here for surgery and reevaluation."

"And what can I do?"

"That's to be decided." Baralai bowed his head. "Honestly, we've assumed you to be nonpartial, so we've stopped involving you in the discussions."

"What?"

"It's for the best. We won't bother you in the future – isn't that what you've wanted this whole time?"

Yuna let the sphere fall to her side.

"My lady? Are you still-?"

She clicked it off, looking out the window where the road back to the hospital laid. It stretched on for a while, but she could still make out some of the silhouette of the building.

They'd stopped involving her.

After a moment of contemplation, she punched Lulu's combination into her sphere.


	7. Chapter 7

Lulu sat at her makeshift desk – which was little more than a slab of stone sitting atop a simple wooden stand – whilst repairing a stuffed Ifrit.

The day was warm, as it tended to be at this time of year, and the air was alive with the sound of insects and working Spirans. Lulu wiped sweat from her forehead as she leaned over her accursed toy, trying to ignore the heat prickling at her back.

The thread snapped and Lulu hissed. Vidina had started gnawing on his toys with his teeth, and that meant a lot of broken eyes and pieces. If only he could talk, then she could scold him into _not_ destroying everything he touched.

Not that it stopped her from scolding him sometimes.

Her CommSphere beeped and Lulu sighed, letting her hands rest as Yuna's image came on over the sphere.

"Kurgum almost died!" Yuna blurted, holding the sphere so close to her that Lulu could barely see past her. "And they've kicked me out!"

Lulu retied the knot of her thread. "I see."

"I'm being cut out!" Yuna continued. "And they didn't tell me! Baralai swore he would keep me in the loop, and now look at what he's doing! Why isn't he more worried about the councilman? Why am _I_ the one being punished?"

"Punishment?" Lulu said, testing out the new knot. "Because you turned him down?"

"Yes!"

Lulu rolled her eyes and ran an awkward stitch around the toy's side. "Honestly, I'm surprised it took him this long."

"He–…" Yuna paused. "What?"

"This is a responsibility," Lulu said, pulling the stitch taut. "Which you've been avoiding ever since the Pilgrimage."

"I have not!"

Lulu kept stitching. "You ran away from Besaid for a year, and you've continued to refuse any offers by the Council to participate in the situations they thought – and, I believe, were – relevant to you. You've made it very clear that you're not interested in political matters, even though you insist on staying informed."

"But I _am_ interested!"

"Are you? Really? Because I suppose even I've been fooled."

Yuna opened and closed her mouth a few times, betrayal in her eyes.

"There's something that you're afraid of," Lulu said, running the thread around and around the horn of the Ifrit. Hopefully Vidina, with his woefully undeveloped perception, wouldn't notice that the new horn wasn't black anymore. "I don't know if you're playing along because you feel bad for the chancellor, or because there's something in Bevelle that you don't want to face, but it's obvious that you're skirting around an issue that no one else can see."

"What?"

Lulu held the doll back for a moment to inspect it. It was a shoddy job, but if Vidina couldn't get past a strangely colored and placed horn, then he had no place being her son. "Be honest with yourself. What is it you don't want to talk about?"

A long moment of silence followed. Lulu waited patiently, tying off the last stitch. Wakka talked about their child being able to notice small changes, but Lulu had to believe that he wouldn't care about this new horn. He was disturbed enough by the thing coming off – there was a lot of frightened looks and sniffling involved – that Lulu assumed if it had a horn again, everything would be right with the world again in his eyes.

"I wasn't supposed to survive the pilgrimage," Yuna finally said. "I wasn't supposed to take an official role like this."

"You meant to take the easiest way out."

"It _wasn't_ easy!"

"No," Lulu said. "It wasn't just that. Otherwise I would have stopped you. But death is easier than life in many way, and even you – like all the Summoners before you – chose that path. I've seen it enough times."

"But I–!"

Lulu let the Ifrit rest on her lap. "You didn't mean for this life and you didn't plan to take on all these responsibilities and you don't think you're ready. From the time you were only two feet tall, you prepared for your life to end before you were twenty years old.

"You think yourself above this because you've been forced to live this life you never wanted. But you still want to help, don't you? You became a Summoner to help Spira. So." Lulu leaned forward, her eyes locking on Yuna's despite the sphere's grainy image. "Help Spira."

"... How?" Yuna whispered, suddenly looking small. By the Fayth, it was like she was a child again, playing in her too-large robes. "I'm not a politician."

"No," Lulu said, leaning back again. "But you're an icon, both for the Yevoners and the anti. Some see you as the Summoner that vanquished Sin forever, others see you as the heretic that proved the entire world wrong. You unleashed the secrets Bevelle spent generations hiding from us. You proved nothing was impossible, and now those people you saved want you to _continue_ saving them from the impossible."

"I'm not running," Yuna whispered.

"Not anymore you're not." Lulu stood to put away the toy and focus on the sphere. "Talk to the chancellor and figure something out. I'm sure he'll be reasonable."

"… He almost killed my friends last year."

"When have you let that stop you?" Lulu asked, not needing to mention Seymour's name. She could make out Yuna recoiling at the memory anyway. "I'm not saying you should trust him a hundred percent," Lulu said. "In fact, I wouldn't recommend trusting _anyone_ in the New Yevon sect."

Yuna shook her head. "I don't."

"Good. But you _can_ do it. Think of it like beating Sin again."

"… That's not encouraging."

Lulu sighed. "Okay. Think of it like… another Sending."

"That also… doesn't help."

Yevon's name, what did it take to help this girl? What worked in the past? "You'll do great," Lulu said simply. "Don't think about it too hard."

Yuna frowned. "I… I can do that."

"Yes," Lulu said, "you can."

"Thanks, Lulu."

The sphere clicked off and Lulu finally turned back to her desk. She couldn't help the nagging doubt that maybe Yuna would mess up, or that something would happen to her, though she knew it wouldn't affect Besaid.

But Yuna had learned plenty on her own, and Lulu trusted her to keep that up.

* * *

When Tidus found himself drifting to sleep, he forced himself to watch it. Not control it yet, as that would only wake him up again. Theoretically, at least. These visions felt different from normal dreams, but he wanted to play it safe.

The view that met him was that of a translucent palace, built with black crystal and ghostly illusions of space in the background. The place was foreign to him, yet it brought a sense of familiarity. He didn't let it put him at ease, however. Ease wasn't going to help him chase down an arrogant, snotty, jerk that never told him anything as straight as he could.

And if there was anything Tidus couldn't stand, it was cryptic messages delivered by mysterious figures. The Fayth were bad enough.

"Hey!" Tidus cried as a name he didn't know echoed in the back of his name. "I know you're in here! Minwu!"

A vague silhouette of a figure appeared, pale in color and form billowing in an unseen wind.

Once in view, it floated away.

Tidus cursed. He wasn't going to have any of _that_ today. "Hey!" he called, dropping into a run. "That's not how this works, buddy!"

He chased the figure through halls of onyx and lavender stone and darkness. Though the silhouette never moved, Tidus found himself travelling through endless tunnels of that purple crystal and glass.

And when he finally caught up, the silhouette changed to an illuminated person that turned to face Tidus. It was a man, covered head to toe in plain cloth. The style was strange to Tidus, as it covered even the man's face, excluding his eyes. A few gems items decorated the man's robes, shining in a nonexistent light. It made him look a little regal.

"White mage," Tidus said. "Like in children's stories."

"Yes." The man faced him, hands clasped behind his back. "You're familiar with them, then?"

"Given that my girlfriend is a white mage herself," he said, "Of course, I would."

"Only the myths, though?"

Tidus frowned. "I guess. I don't know, man, it depends on what else there is. I've learned a few spells myself, though I can't say I'm great at it. Who are you?"

"Just a figment of this reality." The man summoned a staff out of nowhere. "Will you hold this?"

Tidus blinked, but accepted it. It was more of a walking stick than most white mage staves he'd seen. It was made of simple wood, with a single jewel on top. "Is this your weapon?" Tidus asked. "It doesn't look like much."

"You would think that, wouldn't you?"

Tidus frowned. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Pay it no heed." The mage took the staff back. "I merely wanted to satisfy a curiosity of mine. The real reason for my coming is that I must ask you a favor."

"Isn't that all that Fayth do?"

"Not all." He looked a lot like an older Bahamut, now that Tidus could get a good look at him. "We also tell humanity what it needs to know at certain times."

"Very helpful."

The man regarded Tidus with a flat stare. "We do what is necessary. We do not cater to the whims of people like you."

Tidus shrugged. "Yeah, that's pretty much what I've come to expect."

"I have something I must ask of you," the man said, setting his staff aright. "Something we all must ask."

"Well," Tidus said, folding his arms. "I'm not exactly doing a whole lot else. What do you want?"

"Help." With a flourish, the man changed the scene around them to look like the night sky. Only instead of the stars being mere splotches of light against the sky, they surrounded them. Tidus startled as the ground faded beneath him.

"What the-!"

"Calm." The man took Tidus' arm, causing the panic to vanish as quickly as it came. "Focus. What you see here is the Cosmogenesis, a place from which you and all you know originated."

"Wow," Tidus said. "I actually sort of understood what you said there. Are you sure you're a Fayth?"

The man shot him a stern look, though Tidus could only see his eyes. "How much of this part you understand is of trivial import. For now, all you need to know is that this is what links you to other worlds."

"Worlds? Like my Zanarkand?"

"Your Zanarkand," the man said, changing the view to match that of Tidus' old home. "Is not a world in and unto itself, merely a place that has faded with time."

Again, the view changed, this time to show Spira.

Tidus jumped again but was quicker to reign in his shock. "Whoa!" he said. It looked like it did on the map, but instead of being a picture on parchment, it looked like an image on a sphere. Instead of translucent glass, it rested on a solid mix of white and blue. The sphere was surrounded by pure blackness.

"This is your world," the man said. He let go of Tidus' arm, allowing him to float closer. Trying to move himself in this air was worse than the purple palace area, but Tidus managed a couple inches closer through some flailing.

"All of it?" Tidus asked. "It's a lot smaller than I thought."

"Your world is eight-five percent water," the man said. "This is unusual, but not impossible. Some few islands can be found outside your own, containing civilization, but not as much as I would have thought."

"There are others out there?" Tidus tried to get closer, but it felt like a barrier blocked him.

"Not many. The reason I show this is to help give you a sense of scale."

"Huh?" Tidus straightened, easily floating back toward the other man. "Scale of what?"

"I was confused, as well." The man changed the view back to that of the purple palace and Tidus touched back down on solid ground. "There have been some complications regarding the souls sent to this world, and for that I need you to travel to Baaj."

Tidus blinked. "Baaj?"

"You weren't the only one displaced in time." The man sighed, letting his staff vanish into thin air. "Your time has run out – I will speak with you again at a later time. For now, it is better that you wake up. Visions like this will only make you more restless."

"You're one of the weirdest Fayth I've met," Tidus said. "You're only half as cryptic as Bahamut."

"The Fayth," the man repeated. "Have better things to do now that they have woken from their ageless sleep. They don't have time to string you along with bare hints."

"Good. Cause I'm kind of tired of all that."

"I didn't much appreciate it, either," the man said. "But that is neither here, nor there. Return to reality, young one. It is better for you to focus on what's in front of you."

And just like that, the dreamscape faded.

* * *

Snow couldn't remember his dreams at all this week.

The day was cloudy when he finally woke up, but there wasn't enough cover to block out the sun. Snow didn't remember anything else about his week in bed, though he felt refreshingly normal when he came to.

He laid in the old Crusader's tent, as usual, with small rays of sun peeking through the tent opening. The sky wasn't grey, but the sun didn't shine uninhibited, either. A cool breeze wafting his way told him of a recent storm.

Snow yawned, pulling himself to his feet, and felt something was different. No snowflakes burst forth at his waking up, and no frost formed over his bed.

He stretched his fingers and felt mana flow through them. It came back to him, the motions he used to push elements from one plane into the other and the feeling of having the world under his unnatural control. Something about that made him uncomfortable, but he couldn't remember why.

However, he did remember that this wasn't something he should be able to do on Spira. It felt normal, yet the reason why evaded him.

One of Snow's roommates, Palm, rested on a nearby cot and stirred as Snow summoned a small blizzard and held it perfectly still in his hands. He had cropped red hair and youthful features, though Snow knew him to act more mature than most of the kids in the area. Palm was a newcomer to Besaid, and one of the best helpers around. He had a knack for getting some of the finer work done, like finagling beams into place and forcing bent materials to cooperate. His small frame was deceptive in that regard.

"Hey," Palm said, sitting up. "What's that?"

Snow shrugged. "Just a little something I've been working on."

Palm nodded and looked like he wanted to say something else, though he stayed quiet.

"It's amazing what a little sleep can do," Snow said, letting the spell puff back out of existence. He yawned again and stretched out his arms. "I feel better already!"

"Already," Palm said. "Do you realize how long you've been out?"

"I know." Snow walked to the tent's exit. "Doesn't change how great I feel!"

Stepping outside felt like brushing dust off an old sphere. The sun felt warm and welcome on his skin and the air was fresh in his lungs. Every breath felt like new life entering his system.

"Snow!" shouted Jeami, another kid in the village. She had dark hair and skin and wore only a simple, short dress. "You're alive again!"

"You bet I am!" Snow called back. "Where's Tidus? I need to prove him wrong!"

"Down by the beach! Where else?"

"Thanks!"

Snow left the village with a smile. With one hand, he summoned a small fire that he moved around his arm, sending it back and forth while he walked. The sun's light, filtering through both clouds and trees, left a faint glow that lit most of the way to the beach in its pale hues.

The heat didn't bother him anymore. In fact, Snow let it burn through him before the excess energy flowed from his core and into his mana reserves. He felt the power of it pulse in his veins like he'd just finished an intense workout. The sensation was familiar to him, though he had grown unused to it. His body would adjust, probably, with enough practice and exposure. He assumed.

When he left the ruin-littered path and emerged from the little canyon that led out into the beach, Snow found Tidus throwing a blitzball around with Jassu.

"Hey!" Snow yelled, interrupting their round. They both showed surprise when they caught sight of him, with Jassu raising an eyebrow and Tidus' jaw falling slack.

Snow dropped the fire from his arm into his palm. "Guess what!"

He threw the fire.

Jassu leaped out of the way, hitting the ground and rolling a couple yards out of the way while Tidus scrambled out of range and prepared a spell of his own.

Snow pulled out lighting as Tidus threw up a protection spell that generated a translucent shield that rippled white in the air and blocked Snow's direct line of sight to him.

Snow released the bolt anyway.

Tidus pulled the shield against himself, causing it to move and snap to fit the form of his person as the lightning connected and a clap sounded with the impact. He started another spell.

Snow rushed in.

The green-tinged silhouette of a clock flashed briefly into view around Tidus' person, and he moved faster. Too fast for Snow to hit him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tidus said, dancing around him as green light flickered about him. "What brought this on?"

"You wanted me to learn how to control myself!" Snow fell into proper stance, summoning more energy from his core. "And you know what they say about practice!"

He threw down Quake.

Tidus yelped as the ground gave way beneath him and pillars of earth shot up from the ground. One pummeled him in the stomach and sent him flying in the air for a moment before he came crashing down.

He hit the sand face-first with an audible thud and groaned.

Snow walked over, placing his hands on his hips. "Who's the master, now?" he asked.

"I hate you!" Tidus rolled over onto his back. "I think you bruised my spleen!"

"That's what you get for-"

Tidus leapt back to his feet in one swift motion before throwing some white magic on himself that caused his skin to shimmer slightly. Snow moved to summon ice, but Tidus was too fast.

The little punk leapt in, grabbing Snow by the neck and throwing him to the ground.

Snow ate sand and the world spun in his eyes for a moment before he pushed himself back to his feet. "Hey!"

Tidus was faster. He jumped on Snow's back, wrapping his legs around Snow's abdomen and his arms around his neck before tightening the grip.

Snow saw what he was doing. So, he threw on Steelguard.

"What the-?"

Snow only had to straighten his back to force Tidus off again. Doing so, he may as well have flicked an ant off his back. He moved with such force and speed that he sent the other guy crashing into the ground with another _thud_.

"What _is_ that?" Tidus scrambled back to his feet as Snow turned to face him.

"It's…" Snow paused, a golden glow fading from his person. "Oh, come on. I know this one."

"I should hope so," Jassu yelled from way over where he stood.

"Yeah." Tidus rubbed at his arm. "Geez."

"I got nothing." Snow let a gust of wind spin about his arm. "But I'm sure it'll come back to me."

Tidus, still moving with Haste, leapt at him. "Not if I take you out, first!"

Snow released the wind, causing Tidus to stumble in his way before light shimmered across his person again. Protect.

Tidus let out a cry and crashed into Snow, limbs locking around him. "Try it again!" he demanded. "I'm ready this time!"

Snow Steelguarded. The energy coursed through his system and he could swear his skin hardened into metal.

"Aha!" Tidus threw himself backward, testing Snow's strength. "There it is!"

Snow grunted, barely holding steady against the kid's dead weight, Tidus trying for all the world to bring him crashing into a heap.

With a shift in stance, Snow twisted and threw them both into the sand.

Tidus unlocked himself and scrambled away. Snow stumbled back and brushed sand from his face. Tidus hopped backward, keeping his eye on Snow.

"Okay, you two." Jassu stepped in between them. "Enough showing off."

Tidus looked between him and Snow for a moment before stilling and slapping his hands together. "I'd say my work here is done!"

Snow laughed. "This wasn't just you, kid."

"Lulu must be proud, ya?" Jassu gave him a skeptical look. "I guess I wasn't paying that much attention."

"I, uh, made a breakthrough." He tried to remember the moment when it all came back. "Yesterday."

Tidus snorted and wiped sweat from his brow. "You were bedridden yesterday."

"Oh, right." Snow thought back. "Huh. Must have been before the tournament, then." His memories told him that he got it from a different life, but that couldn't be right. He didn't know a place called "Cocoon."

"Hey," Tidus said. "Let's take a trip, huh? I've been dying, stuck here in Besaid for the past forever."

"Oi," Jassu said. "Watch yourself, man. It's only been a week."

"Still." Tidus gestured. "I wanna go to Baaj."

Snow crackled his knuckles. "Sure thing. I could use a good walk."

"Oh, it'll be more than a walk. Trust me on that one." Tidus started off. "We'll leave tomorrow!"

* * *

Chuami waited, sharpening her sword while Kurgum slept. The surgery was done, and all she could do was sit and hope that when he opened his eyes again, he would see and feel like normal again.

Chuami hated waiting. She spent years doing it when Kurgum made the stupid decision to apply for a Master Summoner from Bevelle to take him on as an apprentice.

Kurgum had gone through and completed all those stupid trials – many of which he still wouldn't talk to her about – and he couldn't even use that experience to defend himself against a bunch of tourists. Chuami wondered what those years even got him in the end – he danced smoother for it. So, what?

Kurgum stirred and Chuami almost dropped her sword when his eyes fluttered open and he looked around as if confused by his surroundings. Some of his bandages had been removed, but his face was still covered in creams, salves, and white cloth.

When he spoke, it came out as a raspy croak that sent Chuami snatching for the water. Kurgum accepted it with shaking hands. "Yuna…"

"No." Chuami touched his thin shoulder. "Don't talk." Especially not about _her._

"But…" Kurgum took another sip. "She could have done it."

"You don't know that."

He looked at her with two eyes, though one had gone discolored and didn't focus her way. The skin around both was scabbed and torn. "She could have. The people listen to her, like the water."

Chuami scoffed, helping him drink. "The water doesn't say anything about how you compare to Senders like Yuna."

Kurgum took another sip, then struggled into a sitting position. "Maybe. But I only conjure magic tricks, while Yuna can communicate with and unite the people. I wonder… what would happen if two Senders danced at the same burial site?"

"I can't imagine it would make much of a difference."

"But-"

"No more of that." Chuami took the water away and leaned back. "Take it easy – thinking about Yuna and how she's 'better' won't help you get better. Especially not when your body needs to rest."

Kurgum's lip trembled at the mention and he looked up at the ceiling, eyes glistening. "They say my scars will never heal completely. And… my mind is damaged in some way. I haven't been able to cast anything since I arrived. And I space out sometimes."

"That's the medication," Chuami said. "It's known to cause temporary problems like inability to focus."

Kurgum tried to smile, but it brought a tear trickling out of the corner of his eye. "You're right," he said, voice thick. "It's probably the medication."

Kurgum loved his white magic. He loved to heal and make things better. Chuami felt her rage flare up inside her at the thought that he would never cast as well as he used to. He might never soothe another ache, nor heal another cut. His hands could go the rest of his life without channeling another spell, after spending his last one on her.

And on top of that, his left eye could never see again. His scars could last forever.

"I won't forgive them," she said, more to herself than Kurgum. "What they did was unpardonable."

"They were scared," Kurgum said. "They couldn't lose their loved ones a second time."

Chuami clenched a fist and dug her nails into her palms. "You can't excuse their actions so easily! They had no right! I never would have hurt someone because I wanted to see my mom again."

"Wouldn't you?" Kurgum coughed again and Chuami allowed him another sip of water. "I… I don't know if I would've been able to hold myself back."

Chuami held her tongue against a retort as Kurgum settled back into his sheets. She wouldn't have done this. Not to _anyone_.

Kurgum's breathing levelled out and his eyes slid closed. The room glowed softly with the light of the morning, and it lit Kurgum's pale face as if designating him among the ghostly dead. As if it agreed with the monsters from the Moonflow.

Well, Chuami thought. Maybe she wouldn't have done it to _most_ anyone.

Her eyes lingered on the bandage covering the large gash in Kurgum's forehead before she took her sword from the desk and forced herself to finally look away. The room was bright, the cloth and sheets glowing white with the late afternoon sun. So calm and peaceful. And sickening.

She looked to Kurgum, whose restful breathing reminded her of how he would fall asleep outside when they were kids. "What I wouldn't give to see that mongrel one more time," she whispered, voice scratching against her throat. "And ram my sword down his miserable throat. The one that cast the first stone. You wouldn't be able to stop me then, would you?"

Chuami didn't want calm. She didn't want peaceful. She would find fire, and she would find chaos and she would rain it all down on the Moonflow riverside.


	8. Chapter 8

Yuna offered her arm to Kurgum as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. Much of the skin on his face was mangled, still an angry red, and his frame shook – a reminder to Yuna that this was only his second time standing in a week – and she steadied the both of them against her staff. Chuami, who'd disappeared before Yuna arrived, helped him with his first steps since the incident and Yuna could only imagine how much worse he was then.

Kurgum's attending medic – an older man with graying hair and a steely disposition – watched them carefully as Kurgum accepted Yuna's support and she guided him outside the hospital. The medic kept close until they left, watching with a scrutiny that left Yuna feeling almost as if she'd done something wrong.

Outside, the sun felt warm on her skin. Usually it was hotter at this time of year, but a recent storm took the edge off the heat for now. The water feature in the hospital courtyard shone vibrant blue in the light of the mostly-clear sky and the grass was wet from a recent rain.

Beside her, Kurgum inhaled deeply. "It smells nice," he said, following her to the shore. "Like fresh water."

"It does," she said, releasing him. "Let me see what you can do, now."

He could technically walk on his own, she noted as she watched Kurgum wobble away. It was awkward, but she checked her impulse to grab him since he could move without hurting himself further. There was no damage to his spine, so his legs should work fine despite being out of practice thanks to the week he spent in the hospital.

And now that he was out, most of his bandages were removed and Yuna glimpsed the extent of the damage. He had been allowed a full robe to wear now, and it hid most of his body, but Yuna could see twisted flesh on his arms and around his ankles.

The worst, though, was the slash mark across his left eye. The eyelid was broken, and the eye itself had turned pink and white. He startled when Yuna walked around that side to look at him. He couldn't see through that one. She had hoped against hope that wasn't the case, but...

"Kurgum," Yuna said, cutting off cutting off that train of thought. "Do you still want to dance?"

He hesitated. "I think so. But I'm not sure how."

"You have a limp," Yuna said, "And that will take some adjusting to, but a small stumble won't stop a Sending."

He swallowed and leaned against his staff. "But I can't even walk without help. How am I supposed to dance?"

He could walk – he just didn't have the confidence. She'd seen cases far worse than this back in Mi'ihen after the ill-fated operation by the Crusaders meant to destroy Sin years before. Yuna stepped up to him and took a deep breath before yanking away his staff.

Kurgum pitched forward, but Yuna grabbed his arm before he fell. "It's a limp," Yuna repeated, holding him steady as he scrambled to stay upright. "Just a limp. You may never walk normally, but you can still walk. It will take practice. Same with dancing."

"A lot of practice," he muttered.

Yuna kept her eyes fixed on Kurgum, who kept glancing between her and the staff. Her grip on his wrist tightened. "For now," she said, "make your feet move."

He was reluctant, but did as told. They took small steps. He fumbled without his staff and his feet faltered as he adjusted to his bad leg. It wasn't anything close to what could constitute a Sending, but it would help him make his way back up to that level. Yuna held him up when he wanted to drop or grab his staff and she loosened her grip when his posture strengthened again.

It was a good thing he was smaller than Tidus. Though Kurgum's height was about the same, his frame was wiry and ill-fed thanks to his recovery time, and his lightness allowed Yuna to keep him steady.

"Not so bad now, is it?" she asked, letting go mid step and causing Kurgum to stumble again before recovering his footing.

"I don't know." He fell to the ground with a heavy sigh. "I need more time."

"Ah," came a familiar voice. Yuna turned to see Baralai, walking their way with hands clasped in front of him. "Lady Yuna. Kurgum."

Yuna handed Kurgum his staff and hastily cupped her hands in respect. Baralai copied the motion as Yuna bowed.

"Apologies," Baralai said, holding up a hand in a placating gesture. "It took me until now to get away from the Council. Please, don't let me interrupt."

Yuna flushed, looking between him and Kurgum before levelling her chin. "Kurgum should still dance," she said. "I'm helping him."

"A worthy act." Baralai's eyes sparkled. "Might I watch? It's not often one gets to see other Senders at work, much less together."

Kurgum glanced nervously at Yuna, his mouth working silently. Yuna gave him a reassuring smile, then shot a mischievous look at Baralai. "Better yet," she said. "You were a Summoner once, weren't you?"

Baralai froze. Yuna continued, "I know you went through the training process, even though you won't admit it to anyone. Did you finish?"

She had never seen Baralai so uncomfortable. His fingers clasped and unclasped, and he glanced at Kurgum, whose expression betrayed his intrigue. Baralai's calm face didn't falter, but his hands kept shifting, as nervous as if he'd been caught stealing a relic from the temple.

"I suppose. I mean, I'm not much good at it, but…"

Yuna smiled. "Come on," she said, taking his hand.

"It's a sacred art," Baralai protested. "We're not children at a festival!"

"No one's turning this into a festival," Yuna said. "We're helping Kurgum walk and dance again. Don't you want to help him?"

Baralai silently worked his mouth, likely hunting for another excuse. Yuna leaned down and helped Kurgum back up. He gripped Yuna's shoulder, struggling to stand still as she held fast to his wrist. "After me," she said.

"Lady Yuna," Baralai said, interrupting. "Perhaps it would be a little more appropriate for me to take over."

Yuna gladly relented, stepping back as Baralai offered his hand to Kurgum, who took it with not a little hesitation

"Be gentle," Yuna said.

Kurgum frowned. "I'm not a child."

"No," Yuna said, "and we don't mean to make you feel like one. But we would be wrong not to be careful."

Kurgum gave Yuna a withering glance. "You're doing so well at it," he groaned.

"Focus." Baralai lifted Kurgum's hand, helping him turn around. "Stay light on your feet."

"Watch the limp," Yuna reminded them.

Kurgum stumbled through a beginner's circle-step and gripped Baralai tighter. "I feel like I don't know my own feet anymore."

"We'll get past that." Baralai guided him through the same motion a few times. "You've done all this before, so it's just… a few adjustments we're making to your old habits."

"Right." Kurgum showed some determination in the glint of his eyes. "Old habits."

Baralai promptly stopped, startling Kurgum. "You trained in Bevelle's underground, didn't you?"

"Yes." Fear flashed in Kurgum's expression. "Yuna said you did, too. Is there something wrong with that?"

Baralai stepped back for a moment. "I apologize for this. But perhaps it's the best way."

Kurgum's eyes widened in surprise before Baralai kicked his legs out from under him. Kurgum cried out in pain.

Yuna jumped to her feet. "What are you-?!"

"That," Kurgum managed, scrambling back to his feet, "was years ago! How dare you invoke their brutal methods!"

Baralai's eyes hardened. "Then what was the point of your training?"

Kurgum wobbled, glaring at Baralai. "There was none," he hissed. "The priests of Bevelle were twisted men, corrupted by greed! I vowed from the day I left that I would never heed their teachings!"

Yuna remained frozen to the spot as Baralai twirled the staff in his hand and circled around Kurgum. The chancellor's countenance was the same as when they clashed with him beneath Bevelle's palace.

"And yet," Baralai said, "you cling to Yevon after discarding the old path."

Kurgum reached for his staff from Baralai, who kept it just out of reach. "Just as you did! Sir, what's gotten into you?"

"You remember what they did." Baralai kept circling, as if he didn't hear the question. "What they forced us both through?"

"Every participant was different." Kurgum huffed, the strain showing through his flushed face and trembling feet. "I have no idea what they did with you."

Baralai felt still, staff planted in the ground. "They pushed us both. They found our limits and they had us overcome them. Why can't you do it now?"

"Because-" Kurgum forced a step closer to Baralai- "I can't… do the _impossible_."

Baralai appraised him, eyes falling on Kurgum's damaged ones. "You can't _do_ the impossible now, but you can certainly fight it."

"And what in the blessed name of Yevon am I doing _right now_?" Kurgum threw himself at Baralai, who dropped the staff and caught Kurgum with both arms, trapping him against himself. " _What am I doing_?"

Yuna readied a protection spell, aiming for the space between them. If she had to separate them, then she would merely need to keep one off the other. She had to hope Baralai's bloodlust had dulled with time.

"I'm giving it my all!" Kurgum pushed against Baralai despite sweat sheening against his forehead and the tremor in his frame. "The priests asked the impossible! And if you do, too, then I have no reason to side with you, sir!"

Baralai held steady and bowed his head into Kurgum's shoulder. "I do not ask you to recover in a day, acolyte. I also do not require your dedication against your judgement."

"Then what?" Kurgum's strained voice turned to sobs. "What can you possibly ask that I can give when I no longer walk or see? How can you ask me to dance when I can barely put one foot in front of the other?"

"Did you learn to Send in one day? Did you kill your first fiend that first week into training?" Baralai looked up again, face solemn. "Patience, friend. I'll have trainers ready to help you every day until you can walk on your own, whether you still need a staff or not."

"And what of my standing in the Council?"

"We'll worry about that later." Baralai cast Yuna a thankful glance, and assisted Kurgum in coming her way. "For now, I've arranged the best white mages and surgeons in Bevelle to see what we can do for your wounds."

"When do we leave?" Kurgum asked, struggling to keep up with Baralai.

Baralai corrected the position of one of Kurgum's feet with a nudge of the other man's staff. "Tomorrow morning. I wanted to see how you were doing first, in case something had gone wrong."

"That's fast," Yuna said.

Baralai nodded. "According to the report they received from the medics here, they need to perform surgery as soon as possible."

"Soon as-" Kurgum swallowed hard. "What kind of surgery?"

"A mild one." Baralai looked the other man up and down. "There's not much they can do about any of…" He shook his head. "Just some touch-ups. To help with the worst of it and expedite your healing process."

Kurgum chewed on his lip. "My eye…"

Baralai gave Kurgum his staff back and turned on his heel. "It's time we got back. There's an escort waiting for us further north."

Yuna didn't miss the shuddering breath that Kurgum took, nor the way he hid his face from her.

She bowed her head. Then left to allow him the moment of privacy he no doubt wanted.

* * *

Chuami kicked down the door, sending it flying off its hinges before crashing into the main room of the small house. She found in its modest interior the startled frame of a man, one she recognized from the Moonflow riot. He had graying stubble and an angular face with wide eyes betraying his shock.

"What in the-?"

Chuami screamed and threw herself at him, sword out.

He yelped and scrambled away. Chuami chased him. "What are you _doing_?" he demanded, rushing outside. The road was deserted thanks to the sun being so low.

She dropped her sword and tackled him around the middle. He fell with the weight of a bag of bricks and she scrambled on top to punch his face in.

"Hey!" someone shouted. "Chuami!"

She ignored them, hitting the man again and _again_ -

A strong hand snatched hers, holding her back. She snapped her attention up to see Gippal, his visible eye narrow. "No," he said.

Chuami yanked herself free as the man struggled to get himself out from under her. Gippal fought with her, hands flying to keep up with hers. She rolled off the other man and away from Gippal to snatch her sword back.

The perpetrator took the chance to break into a run away from her. Chuami moved to give chase, but Gippal grappled her from behind.

"Let _go_!"

"How stupid can you _be_?" Gippal said, voice strained. "Holy maker!"

Chuami growled and rammed the butt of her blade into his stomach. Gippal grunted, but kept his hold.

"He almost got my friend killed!" Chuami stretched her neck to see him. " _You_ almost killed him!"

"Oi, oi." Gippal fumbled for her sword, but she kept it out of his reach. "Would Kurgum want you killing people over him?"

She didn't dignify that with a response.

"Think of the kid, Chuami. Now let me have that."

"No!"

Gippal sighed and dropped his head into her shoulder, hair tickling her neck. "Violence isn't going to make him better. Give me the sword."

"You're not even going to arrest him!"

"We have people looking into the causes of the riot, and you just gave us a face to match with one of the aggressors. I called it in before I got to you. You've done your duty."

Chuami screamed, wrestling against his hold. Damn, he was strong! "What are you doing here?" she cried. "I almost had him!"

"Reports of a scary lady with a sword in the area found me. Maybe you'll not run around disturbing the citizens of my town?"

"You don't own the Moonflow!"

"Yeah, I kinda do. Not meaning to brag or anything, but this place and Djose are kind of the same. Legally. But I only hold it unofficially."

Chuami dropped her sword again and slithered out through his grasp. Gippal cursed and she spun away from him. He took the sword and held it against his shoulder. "I've got my eyes on you now," he said. "How about we take a walk? I know a nice bar back in town that you'll like."

"I can't. _Leave._ This." She forced every word through grit teeth. "You won't sweep me under the rug!"

Gippal sighed. "No, but I can defuse the situation and make it a little more workable. Aggravating it only makes things worse. Hence the word 'aggravate.'"

Chuami turned on her heel. "Not this time," she said.

Gippal barreled into her from behind and slammed into Chuami with the force of a shoopuf. She hit the ground, chin knocking against the dirt.

"No," Gippal hissed into her ear. " _Not again_."

Chuami screamed in frustration, but the man's weight was too much. "Get _off_!"

Gippal snatched her by the wrists and stood, forcing her up with him. "I'd rather not pretend you're as immature as my helpers back in Djose, but by the rusted and fractured, you're making this difficult."

"Who do you think you _are_?" Chuami demanded and tried in vain to writhe free. "Who's the child here, huh?"

Gippal sighed and dragged her off down the road. She kicked and struggled, but to no avail. "What am I supposed to do, kid? You just about killed one of my men. Very immature of me to save lives, yes."

"He _almost took one_!"

"As did a lot of people!" Gippal stopped shorted and wrenched her around to face him whilst keeping his hold on her wrists. "And we're detaining _all_ of them. You should thank your lucky stars that I'm not throwing you in prison with them!"

"Ugh!" Chuami gave up fighting him and threw her head back. "How dense can you be?"

"Not anymore than you, I'm sure." Gippal heaved a breath and forced her along down the road. "Now, come on. I think I have just the thing for this."

* * *

Lulu sorted through her list of complaints and requests from the village. It wasn't a very long list, but still proved to be one of the most tedious parts of her day. Though, it _was_ easier than talking to the people in person, since she could organize notes and messages more quickly and with less headache-inducing shouts in the privacy and darkness of her hut.

The NewsSphere played quietly on the stand beside Lulu's "desk," which was really a glorified prayer mat. She had seen nicer offices in Bevelle, after which she found she could never take island politics seriously. She would have to offer a prayer of "thanks" to Lady Ginnem for causing that.

How she would have laughed if she could see Lulu now, running her own village.

"Here in Bevelle," Shelinda's voice was saying, "people are wondering what's going to happen to those who profess Yevonite beliefs. After the incident in the Moonflow, there are some who say they should be prosecuted by law for interfering in the lives of the common Spiran…"

Lulu shook her head. As it turned out, having the ability to communicate instantly didn't help the people learn, like she assumed would happen. Instead, it was used to expedite the spreading of rumors and gossip. She'd heard only the barest mentions about some of the recent attacks by strange animals near the western coast.

"... With Lady Yuna's possible, newfound relationship with Chancellor Baralai…"

Lulu almost snapped the pen in her hand. She listened despite her misgivings, but by the Fayth it was difficult not to go hunt that girl down and break her throat.

She took a deep breath and focused on the paper before her, going over the resources that would have gone to a new ship, assuming Sin had destroyed it. Which, it usually did. Now that they didn't have to expend lumber and the like on things like that, Lulu wasn't entirely sure what to do with the extra materials. Perhaps she could arrange for an improvement of the old Crusader's tent. Make something that could withstand the storms a little better.

The tent flap opened, admitting Wakka and Vidina and a hint of commotion outside. The Aurochs must have been getting into their practice despite her having asked them at least a dozen times to keep it outside the village

"Hey," Wakka said. "Little guy seems to have a talent for the ball. I can train him in a couple more months, ya? Perhaps we'll see _him_ on television one of these days!"

Usually Wakka stayed out during the news broadcast. "You're back early," she said.

Wakka shrugged. "Vidina looked red. I worried." He settled down on one of their cushions with a contented sigh. "The sun's high, today. Didn't want him to blister, ya?"

Shelinda's voice continued to crackle over the sphere. "... And it sounds like we're all wondering the same thing. Will they pander to those who want to see violence done and dissolve the sect in its entirety? Or will they find a way out of the mess they've created?"

"Tch." Wakka shifted, prying Vidina off his shoulder. The child grabbed at his face and hair, determined to test them in his mouth. "They're all idiots. Why do you still listen to that stuff, huh?"

Lulu set down her notes. It was so hard to concentrate with the growing racket outside. "A good mayor doesn't ignore the happenings of the outside world."

"Seems counterproductive to me," he muttered. Lulu cracked a smile.

"Doesn't it just."

Wakka pulled his bangs out of Vidina's mouth. "Snow's still out with Tidus," he said with a grimace at the slobber dripping from his hair. "And that Palm's left on another of his mystery quests. Won't expect them to help with the temple maintenance this time around."

"A pity." Lulu paused in her writing. Snow was progressing so nicely, too. She'd almost hoped to get him off ice magic completely this week.

"Mayor!" someone shouted. Lulu looked up as one of the elders burst in. "Mayor, please!"

She and Wakka exchanged confused looks. "Yes?" she asked.

"The temple! It's burning!"

Wakka all but threw Vidina onto the bed before leaping from the tent. Lulu trailed after him to find flames and smoke rising from the temple entrance.

"What's this?" Lulu snapped, rushing closer. The sand burned her toes, but she couldn't draw herself away. "An accident?"

"We don't know!" The elder was frantic. He was too old to rush with everyone else in putting the thing out with buckets being hauled to and from the ocean side.

Those flames billowed high enough to scare away the birds. "We were gathering for afternoon prayer, the three of us, and-"

Lulu moved past him. The buckets were too slow. At this rate, not only the temple would be consumed in the fire, but the whole village would catch.

Personally, she wasn't that worried about the temple itself. But she _did_ care for the men and women that still attended, few as they were.

The gathered crowd parted to let her pass.

She had gotten into wearing a simple black dress with loose sleeves to replace her old fur-lined one. Vidina had taught her that if there was one thing motherhood couldn't work with, it was a restrictive corset. This new dress helped her slip past gracefully, her bare feet landing silently in the ground without the old weight of her skirt to impede her movement.

Lulu gathered heat in her palm and kept a small fire burning to steady herself until it came time to unleash water. It would do no good to yell, much as she wanted to, and the fire helped ensure that she didn't. Black magic had a habit of sucking out the tension in her body. The reassuring beat of the mana in her veins was enough for Lulu to ignore the heat of the flames burning what yet remained of the temple.

Villagers about her rushed to either put out the fire or stare in disbelief.

Blood thumping faster than her normal beat, Lulu changed the spell to water and pulled enough toward herself to create a blob above her head.

She released it in a heavy blast, jetting it toward the temple like a tsunami breaking over dry land.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as Lulu frowned in concentration. Most couldn't keep up a spell for longer than a moment. Holding out a third-tier for minutes seemed to suck the very life force from her being.

She bit back some colorful language as her frame trembled with the energy coursing through her. It ripped through her system, tearing at her heart and bursting through the air with decreasing control.

After what felt like ages, the torrent died to a feeble stream. Lulu stopped it there, breathing ragged.

Surprised shouts erupted as water tumbled to the ground, but Lulu didn't flinch as the water splashed her legs and soaked her dress, causing her hair to cling to her skin.

Only puffs of smoke remained. People rushed into the temple with more buckets of sand and water.

Wakka appeared at her side, an arm outstretched, but she didn't accept his support. She _couldn't_ accept it, not now; the village was watching them. She turned to face them, touching Wakka's arm. He got the message and took a few steps back.

Dripping wet, Lulu regarded the entirety of the village as it stood before her, save for most of the children that had run away to hide. Faces ducked in shame and fear. Eyes glowed with admiration. Lips tightened in worry and anticipation.

Temples didn't burst into flames on their own. Perhaps it was a mistake. Or maybe someone in this village just about got their elders killed.

"Whoever did this will answer to me!" Lulu yelled. Most in the square craned their necks to hear her. "If this was an act of terror, whether by an outsider or one of our own, I will have their name!"

It stayed quiet. They expected her to say more, but the exhaustion hit her hard. She remained straight and poised as she turned on her heel toward her tent. Wakka would take care of it if they acted up again.

"Mayor," a youth said. Lulu stopped, though every fiber of her being ached. She recognized the kid as Jeami, one of the former temple girls, now almost a woman. Lulu remembered how she stopped wearing her robes the day the Calm started. "Mayor, I thought you should know that a fire originated in Lady Yuna's tent, as well. Before the temple caught."

"Really?" Lulu asked. The other villagers made a show of preparing to leave, yet none but a few did. "Yuna's?"

Jeami nodded.

Lulu scowled. The tent was a gift from the Council, and while she didn't care for the it or anything strongly tied to Bevelle, it wouldn't do to have her village think it could blow up tents and temples because of a few miffed feelings.

Her eyes itched. Later. She would take time throughout the week to interview people and find the source of this. For now, she had to recover. "Thank you," Lulu said.

Jeami bowed her head in respect and Lulu turned back to her tent. She couldn't let rebellion start on this island. It would make her a bad leader, and Lulu had promised herself she wouldn't fail again like she did with Lady Ginnem.

 _Never_ again.


	9. Chapter 9

The Mi'ihen Highroad was alive with the sound of chirping insects. The sun beat down on Snow's skin, burning like an angry furnace. The sky was clear of any clouds and the highroad had few trees or shade, leaving Snow and Tidus fully exposed to the mercy of the sweltering humidity. Snow wiped sweat from his brow, keeping a brisk pace. The sooner they could find some shade the better.

"Eesh," Tidus said, summoning a small cure. "I think I'm getting a burn."

"Huh." Snow cast him an appraising look. "I never pegged you for a white magic kind of guy."

"I'm full of surprises." Tidus shivered as the cure enveloped him. "Aw, yeah. That's better."

The highroad was a prime spot for fiend attacks, given its traffic. He tensed at the number of Lucans and tourists they passed, even though they were barely out of the city. Snow reminded himself of the recent drops in attacks before relaxing and summoning a small frost to take the edge off the heat. It evaporated before leaving his system. "No juice, huh?"

"Nah," Tidus said. "It's hard to summon an opposite element in the peak of the season."

"What day is it, anyway?" Snow asked as they came up on a fork in the road. "Feels like we've been traveling for ages."

"I wouldn't know." Tidus paused, causing Snow to stop as well. "Haven't exactly been keeping track."

"Me neither." Snow turned his attention back to the road. "We're looking for the north road, right?"

"It'll be one of these guys. Which one looks more north-ish to you?"

Snow frowned. "Why do we have to follow the road? Won't it be faster if we go in a straight line?"

"You have a point," Tidus said, looking toward some trees on the horizon. "I think it's that way," he said, pointing past a big and fallen structure.

"Alright," Snow said, placing his hands behind his head as they continued forward. "So. We just passed Luca. How far is this Baaj place?"

Tidus snapped out of a reverie, looking at Snow as if seeing him for the first time. He paused to look around them. "It's… uh. It's a little further."

"Don't tell me we're lost."

"Not lost," Tidus said. "I don't think. I'm just trying to remember what's in Baaj in the first place."

Snow popped his fingers. "You said you wanted to go there for the sake of it."

"Really?" Tidus scrunched up his face in confusion. "That couldn't be all there was to it. Huh. Maybe I'm just remembering when I first got here. You know Rikku was the first person I met when I got to Spira?"

"I do now."

"Yeah." Tidus' eyes glazed over. "That was weird."

Snow hummed, placing his hands behind his head. The road stretched on for ages, but walking with Tidus made it feel not quite so long. He was a good kid. "Where did Palm go off to, do you know?" he asked after a while. "Did he tell anyone this time?"

"I think it was Guadosalam. Something about checking in on the place? I don't know. There's something weird going on with that guy."

"Huh." Snow looked at the cloudless sky. "But Lulu's got him under control. She's got the whole village wrapped around her blackened finger, it seems. Without Bevelle in the way, she's really taken off."

Tidus chewed on his lip. "There was a fire," he said slowly. "I was going to avoid telling you, but Wakka messaged me last night. Lulu's going around talking to people now."

"What?" Snow stopped. "Why aren't we going back?"

"Because there's nothing for us to do." Tidus paused with him. "Or so they say. The damage was minimal, so the best thing is for them to find out who did it, and Lulu says it's better not to raise a fuss. By the time we get back, I'm sure they'll have found them anyway."

"Ugh." Snow moved on. "Prime time for a trip, huh?"

Tidus stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. Yuna's gone, too. Might not be a coincidence."

"By the Council?"

"Nah. Lulu said it was the temple and Yuna's tent that were targeted. The Council wouldn't destroy their own buildings."

"But the temple isn't theirs."

"No, but they're invested in Yevon's old relics, whether for the history or for respect." Tidus paused by the chocobo corral to rent a couple of the birds. "They're weird about it, though. Don't tend to give a lot of reasons before they up and do a thing, and every time I go to Bevelle it feels like I've slipped down a dark set of stairs into a pool of slime."

That brought up unpleasant memories. "What does that mean?" Snow asked as they mounted and continued their way.

"I don't know." Tidus made a look of disgust. "There's something wrong with that place, and I don't think it's the church. It's like the very building is tainted."

Tainted. Snow thought of rippling and ethereal sheets formed by corrupted space. Chaos, he wanted to call it. The concept seemed alien, and yet he felt like he could see it as they rode down the road, chocobo bouncing beneath him. Over the twisting valley, he imagined checkered air that shimmered in the sun's light.

Snow recoiled, memories of cold and dark misery surging within. Remembered an eternal and oppressive sense of loneliness that seeped through his body, like a tangible force pressing against him.

"Hey," Snow said. "I told you I came from Luca, right?"

"I think so. Why?"

"No reason." Luca wasn't dark, he thought, but maybe he spent a lot of time in the alleys before winding up in Besaid. "Just glad you found us, kid."

"Yeah." Tidus snorted. "Rikku's team would have killed me if I didn't."

Snow may not have originated here, but he sure as Sin belonged with his family. That, he knew for sure.

* * *

Yuna knelt over Bahamut's inert statue, knees pressed against the glass-like surface that separated her from him. Her robes brushed the dirty, neglected floor and Yuna traced her finger over the full surface, leaving a trail in the fine film of dust. It didn't glow anymore, but at least they had replaced it over the pit to the Farplane. The lingering sense of decay left a faint rotting smell in the air, but she'd gotten used to that by now.

Yuna relied on the light coming from the candle she brought. Didn't mind that so much. Once, she hated the dark and the sense of solitude it brought, back when she preferred spending as much time as she could with people and light and savor them before finishing her pilgrimage.

But now, no one ever came down here and Yuna felt the dark and quiet to be refreshing for once. She could almost hear the hymn still, as sung in Bahamut's young voice, and that was all the company she needed.

"What am I supposed to do?" Yuna whispered. Her voice bounced off the round room's walls in mockery while the dead image below her remained silent. She pulled her garment grid out of her bag, running her fingers over its intricate patterns. She'd always kept it on hand, if for no other reason than to remind her of her time as a Gullwing.

"Yevon took everything from me, yet they ask me to become its figurehead. Is this not undoing everything I fought for? Is it not enough that I work as a priestess in quiet?"

Still silence.

Yuna summoned some water, then dropped it onto the glass. It splashed and streamed down the platform. Using the sleeve of her robe, she rubbed at the glass until it shone. With Bahamut's inert form more visible below her, she could make out ancient runes scrawled in the stone around his figure.

The text was difficult to read, its dialect morphed by the years. She made out the character of Holy near the one representing the Farplane. The message appeared to fashion itself after a warning to those would use white magic too close to the dead. Yevon's once-holy language was familiar to her, though the act of translating its characters felt as treason. How many would alienate her for even being in this shrine?

A knock sounded at the doorway and Yuna snapped to attention.

Kurgum stood in the shadows inside the doorway, as the gate that separated this room from the others was removed sometime after the fall of Sin. He kept both hands against the frame, angling his good eye toward Yuna. He smiled shyly when she saw him, lips pursing a bit as he took a step forward.

And tripped.

Yuna rushed to grab him, boots thudding against the ground. She stopped when Kurgum managed to grab the edge of the frame.

"Ow," he muttered, releasing his grip on the frame. Blood seeped from his hands. "That's sharper than I thought."

Yuna frowned and stilled, heart thumping to the harmony of white magic. "You should be careful. You're not as strong as you once were."

Kurgum nodded, face flushing as Yuna moved to cure his wound. "The surgery went well?" she asked, refreshing him with a touch of white magic.

He nodded.

"What brings you down here?"

"The Council," Kurgum said, watching as she worked the magic into his hands. "They're dealing with the response to some bad press and want you to prepare a statement to go along with it. The public appears to be under the impression that we're going to dissolve the entire religion sect."

Yuna finished the spell. "Does this rumor have any basis to it?"

Kurgum chewed on his lower lip. "Maybe a little. The idea was proposed, but never made it past the initial voting stage. At least, that's what the chancellor said."

Dissolving the entire sect. Despite Yuna, Rikku, and Paine's efforts last year, maybe the original Youth League _would_ end up winning. The world leaders spoke of unification, but apparently that meant little in the eyes of those who continued to feel wronged by Yevon. And the number of people in that group was not small.

"Is New Yevon wrong?" Yuna asked softly, taking a seat by Bahamut's statue again. "I know the old Yevon was bad, but… isn't the new one the same thing? Why must we preserve it?"

Kurgum paused, brow furrowing in thought. "The origin of Yevon," he said slowly, "was corrupt. I… don't think it was all bad. We have the teachings at least.. We had to sort through and clean them up, but those revisions focused on the rules around machina."

He took a spot beside her, gazing wistfully into Bahamut's altar. "I never got to see all of them. I can only imagine what Shiva and the others looked like when they were still active."

Yuna eyed Bahamut's majestic wing. "You met him?"

"I'd only just started my pilgrimage when you beat Sin." Kurgum's eyes gained a far-off look to them. "Despite the chaos of Yevon's falling and Chuami's protests, I made the stupid mistake of trying to soldier on in my dreams of becoming a Summoner. Bahamut wouldn't even listen to me – I guess he was a little busy."

"You've always believed in Yevon, then?"

Kurgum shook his head, beads clicking against his shoulder. "Not so much recently. If Sin really is his fault, then I want nothing to do with it. But I _do_ want to keep helping people, even if I disagree with some of their beliefs, and I know that right now they need someone to speak for them. I would do it, if they let me, but…"

"No one knows you," Yuna said. "If they did, then they would be fine with letting you become their spokesman. Perhaps if I do it with you…"

Kurgum snapped his eye to hers. The glare of the candle emphasized the scar running across his face. "You'll accept?"

"Not permanently." Yuna pulled her knees up to her chin. "But it sounds like the best way to help. Which I want to do, but I also don't want to risk tying myself to Yevon. Not like you. Perhaps if we both step up together, then everyone can see that you're a trustworthy person and I can hand off the position to you before I retire again to Besaid."

"That… might work."

"I'm tired of being in the spotlight," Yuna said with a sigh, tracing over Bahamut's figure again with her finger. "I want to help Spira, but I want to do it quietly." She could hear Bahamut's voice in her mind, his haunting hymn lilting in the silence.

"At least he gets to sleep. Like the rest of them."

"Did you only know him?"

He nodded, looking over the room with a wistful expression. "I thought it would be amazing when I met the other Aeons, but I always wondered how they could possibly measure up with the awe I felt upon meeting this one."

"He was rather grand, wasn't he?"

"Definitely."

"But…" Yuna hesitated. "The others were just as impressive. Each special in their own way."

"How?" He looked at her, some desperation in his eye. "What were they like?"

"Valefor was my first," Yuna said, some pity creeping in. How could someone not know the Aeons like she did? "She was sweet, I think, like… what a mother would be like. She always felt close to me whether I summoned her or not."

"And Ifrit?"

"Quiet. Strangely quiet. But I could feel a hidden passion in him, like a burning ember…"

* * *

"See?" Gippal said, guiding Chuami about Djose. "Just what the doctor ordered!"

Chuami scowled, arms folded across her chest. Gippal had taken her sword and kept it at his side with her sheath, and he kept a hand gripping her wrist. She was sure it would bruise, but for now her irritation overpowered the urge to murder him in his sleep.

"I'm not a child," she told him for the umpteenth time. "Stop holding my hand."

"And let you try to go off and murder someone? I don't think so. Actually, now that I think about it, alcohol might not be the best option right now. How do you feel about a snack? Some fruit?"

Chuami groaned and rolled her eyes. It was quiet when they arrived, despite it being midday, and few people wandered the roads.

She'd heard the place had unofficially been claimed as headquarters for the machine sect and yet none of the people she saw were Al Bhed. Unless they dyed their hair and wore contacts, at least. Otherwise, it appeared much the same as when Chuami last visited some years ago. There were more people now, but the shops and buildings all remained. Some additions had been made, with a new town hall and some bars down the road.

Stones crunched beneath Chuami's boots and she kicked a small pebble off down the road to watch it roll beside a small home near the temple. The same temple that remained on the ground here instead of being burned to pieces with the fall of Sin. The rocks guarding it remained perpetually floating in an endless, lazy circle around the main structure.

The temple was still there because the machine sect used it as a base of operations. The innate source of electricity provided by the temple's store of lightning magic must have proved invaluable to their pool of resources.

Chuami paused for a moment, took a breath, let it out, then rolled her shoulders and rushed to keep up with Gippal.

"Wait." Gippal flung a finger her way. "Is this about the thing they said on the NewsSphere? Is that why you attacked the guy?"

"I honestly haven't been watching it much lately," she said. "I care more about the murderous beasts that initiated the riot in the Moonflow."

" _Yr_." Gippal waved over one of his workers. "Hana! Can you take care of things here for a bit?"

The girl that rushed over was shorter than Chuami thought most machine workers were supposed to be. She was mostly covered head to toe, as was typical for someone her age, so it was hard to make out her race. But she showed enough skin on her face that Chuami suspected her to be Spiran. "A-are you sure?" Hana asked. Her voice hinted toward early puberty. "I don't know if-"

Gippal slapped his palm on the kid's head. "You'll be fine. Just bark out orders really loudly and no one will think twice about it."

"Um, if you're sure…"

"You thought you could settle it with a few good punches?" Gippal asked as Hana scurried off again. "Sin, I wish that worked." He finally let go of her and Chuami rubbed at her sore wrists.

"If you try this again," she said, "I'll make you regret being born."

"Eh." Gippal offered her an unnatural, lopsided smile. "I already do plenty of that every day."

He turned away from her and took to the closest bar. "Over here, kid. We can talk things over."

Chuami glanced between him and the town exit. If she made a break for it, she could be back in Bevelle by tomorrow evening. Where they would probably question her and find out exactly what she did in the Moonflow. No doubt Gippal and his connections would hunt her until the day she died if she didn't follow again.

With a sigh, she followed him and stopped outside a small pub, from which the strong scent of saké floated their way. Gippal stepped in and waved for Chuami to follow.

Smoke filled the bar, which was only big enough to fit a dozen people. The lighting was dim, save for bright lights around the counter's edges.

The popularity of bars like this had gone down some after Sin, but mostly people's reasons for coming had changed. Before, Chuami remembered seeing a lot more gloom and defeat in the faces of those who attended, many of whom were the sole survivors of an attack from Sin. It was quiet then, with few wanting to converse with their neighbors.

Now, the occupants chatted amiably, creating a soft din that murmured gently through the building. Some even laughed, gesturing to a large screen hanging above the counter that ran around the building in a circle. A single barmaid kept the place and currently stood toward the center of the counter, mixing a drink using wired fingers.

Chuami paused to watch. It was a square glass, lit up in hues of orange from underneath by a small pad. The barmaid stirred the drink once with a single chopstick, then tapped the glass with one finger that was attached to a metal pad. The drink sparked, then turned purple.

The man sitting in front of her grinned and nodded his thanks before taking a sip. He turned to his friend and whispered excitedly.

"This is my friend," Gippal said, earning a radiant smile from the barmaid. "How've you been, Tifa?"

She turned to him, pulling black leather gloves over the wire on her hands. Sleek, black hair spilled from her shoulders as she leaned against the counter. "I've been great." She offered her own big smile. "What's up?"

Chuami looked between the two. They acted like they shared a secret no one else knew. "Why are we here?" she asked. "Can she help us?"

"Tifa knows everything," Gippal said. "Sometimes I wonder where she gets it all." They exchanged another look, and Chuami frowned.

"Are you two lovers?" she asked flatly. "Because I'd rather not have to deal with _that_ the whole time we're here."

"What?" Gippal stumbled back. "No!"

Tifa shook her head. "I'd be flattered, but I'm afraid my husband wouldn't like that."

"No," Gippal repeated, face red. "She's just… anyway. We're here to lay low for a little while. Stirred up some trouble in the Moonflow, and now we've gotta wait it out."

"I hear you." Tifa dropped to a crouch by the counter. "Should have just the thing for you, too. Little something I like to call the 'Midgar Tumble.'"

"Midgar?" Chuami asked. "What does that mean?"

Tifa pulled out some different-colored bottles and started mixing them. "It refers to the creeping corruption of greed and power. Think smoky and greasy engines, all built together to form a giant city, run by the inbred elite."

"Like Bevelle's underground," Chuami deadpanned.

"Yes." Tifa touched the glass and it fogged, color changing from a brown to a deep green. She slid it toward Gippal. "There you go."

"Beautiful," he said, accepting it. "I owe you the world, my girl."

Tifa snorted. "If only you could follow up on that promise."

Chuami groaned. These two would be the death of her, and it wasn't going to take long.

"So. Tifa passed Chuami a replica of Gippal's drink. "You never told me how your girlfriend was doing."

Gippal grinned and set his cup down. "Well, I suppose if you insist…"

"Girlfriend," Chuami repeated, ignoring her drink. "You have a girlfriend?"

Gippal bounced his head from side to side. "For a given definition. She's a girl and she's a friend."

"Eugh," Chuami said as a small boy joined Tifa from the back. "I don't think I want to know."

"That I have friends?"

Tifa ruffled the boy's hair. "Thanks, Denzel."

"Yes." Chuami took a drink and was met with a bitter burn that she felt seep down through her chest and tumble about her insides. She shuddered at the sensation, lips pursing.

"Have you tried communicating?" Tifa was asking Gippal. "Using the right channels, you may be able to avoid such grisly aftereffects."

"All the time." Gippal traced a finger over the rim of his glass, the contents emptied. "There's this one… term… that I tried, but it's, uh… hurt one of my friends. Not very sensitive, you know."

Chuami sighed and excused herself to use the bathroom. Gippal let her go with a wave. On the way out, she could swear she heard the words, "time" and "shenanigans."

She'd barely stepped away from the two before rough hands grabbed her by the mouth, cutting off her cry of alarm, and dragged her behind the building.

"Keep quiet" a feminine voice hissed, yanking her further back. "I'm here to recruit you, love."

Intrigue replaced Chuami's suspicion and she gave the woman a look despite the gloves restraining her mouth. The lady wore a hat that extended down to hide most of her face, as many Spirans did to protect themselves from the sun. As far as Chuami could see, however, this one wasn't the kind to hide her face. Not unless it was for the sake of fashion. A pink dress cut and trimmed in all the wrong places did little to hide the woman's admittedly impressive figure and taste for the ridiculous.

Chuami yanked the lady's hands down and sucked in a breath. "What do you want?"

"Help." The woman looked around them before releasing Chuami completely. No one near the building seemed to notice or care about them, given they kept walking without a glance Chuami's way. "Name's Leblanc."

"Oh. I've heard of you."

"Yes, yes, of course you have." Leblanc placed her hands on her hips. "I'll get straight to the point. You fought Gippal, yes?"

Chuami narrowed her eyes. "How did you hear about that?"

"I was there. Now, you have a talent for battle, and I need that. You want blood, yes?"

"I…" Chuami never thought about it that way. "No. I want revenge."

"Same as blood."

"Not necessarily."

"Close enough, though." Leblanc gestured. "I've gathered myself a rather sizeable crew, and we're planning to attack soon."

"Attack who?"

Leblanc gave her a pitying look. "Bevelle, of course. You want the Council to remain in power forever?"

Chuami blinked. "I suppose not."

"Then it works out perfectly."

"What if I say no?"

Leblanc snarled. "You're getting irritating, love," she said, pulling her hat up. "Stop hedging. You're not satisfied sitting on the sidelines."

"Maybe I am."

"Maybe." Leblanc regarded her. "Maybe not. If not, give my name and they'll leave you alone. But only if you then find me in Guadosalam."

"Give your name to who?"

"You'll see, love." Leblanc lifted her hat out of her face and started walking off. "Didn't you hear what they're saying on NewsSphere? Change waits for no woman, of course, and we'd best not sit out the perfect opportunity."

Chuami watched her go before rejoining Gippal and Tifa, who both only looked her way to acknowledge her presence before continuing their conversation. Chuami took a long sip from her drink, letting it burn through her, before leaving to find what information she could on this Leblanc.

Best know what she was getting herself into.


	10. Chapter 10

Yuna twirled her staff in her right hand, while her left channeled a small accuracy spell to avoid tripping in her hasty stride along the Highbridge. The mana leaked out of her in the rush, rippling the air with its white glow. Her blood thumped steadily, a reassuring beat to calm her nerves.

Yuna belonged to the white light, the divine power. Her blood sang its hymn, even though she currently borrowed from the green light, whose song held Tidus' heart. Yuna belonged with the purest source, the kind that was made to help and heal. Green remained steady, but not in the same way as white. It was more upbeat and peppy, but it didn't give her a headache like black did.

The application office was a small building lost amid the sea of the larger, more complex Council offices made for meetings and presentations. She could have easily bypassed the process, the guards would have let her, but she wasn't above these people. No, she was one of them. She didn't become High Summoner because she established her position above everyone else, and Yevon strike her then if she wasn't going to start this whole thing off the proper way.

The accuracy spell glowed about her, gathering more attention than necessary, but it couldn't hurt to make a point while she was at it. Yuna dropped the haste and burst through the doors to the application office. The little man at the desk didn't react, so Yuna came to stand right in front of him.

"Name sect and division," the man said flatly. "Scrolls are-"

Yuna smiled and cleared her throat. The man finally looked up. Blinked. And jumped to his feet. "L-Lady Yuna! What are you doing here?"

"Just Yuna, please. I would like to apply for the position of Head of Religion. Praetor, or whatever they call it."

"Officially," the guy scrambled for the scrollwork, "it is Religion Director. But they all have their own unofficial names now. Kind of silly, if you ask me."

"Thank you," Yuna said. "Once I fill these out, how long until I can expect to meet with the chancellor?"

"Uh, not long I think." The man gave her a pen. "You might be able to get in within the week."

"A week."

The man flushed. "A thousand apologies, but these things take time. We have to follow certain procedures, see…"

She didn't put herself above everyone else, Yuna reminded herself. She could wait. She could be patient. "Great," she said at length. "Tell him I'll see him then."

While she wrote on the scrolls, she could hear whispers around the other workers. They looked at her with mixed reactions, some with disgust, most with awe.

She'd barely handed in the scrolls before an office worker came in and rushed her onto the path toward Baralai's office.

"Maybe not a week, then," Yuna whispered to herself when they left her to find her way. The visit with Kurgum and Chuami had taken her the exact route she needed to go, but it was so long ago now that she had to ask directions at almost every turn.

When she entered the office, she could see the scrolls she'd filled out lying scattered across Baralai's desk. He looked up when she entered, but said nothing. She hated the way those dark, intense eyes scrutinized her every move. Paine often had the same habit of _watching_. Yuna didn't think that was a coincidence.

"You accept?" he finally asked. "Just like that?"

Yuna bowed slightly. "I'll take responsibility for myself. I realize that the trust in the Council has been broken and that I can't do anything to remedy that, but I can help."

He stood and rounded the table in one quick motion. "How?"

Yuna swallowed as he stepped closer, hands clasping behind his back. He stopped in front of her, close enough that she could make out the red veins in his eyes. "I assumed," Yuna said, suddenly feeling very small, "That coming here by itself counted as 'helping.'"

Baralai looked down at her, expression unreadable. He was taller than she remembered. She could have sworn they were the same height, but standing so close she could see that she only came up to his nose.

"That's it?" he asked quietly, the motion of his sunken eyes turning frantic for a moment.

"No." She straightened her back, standing taller. "It's not that simple, I know that, but this is a start and I have to make up for my mistakes somehow."

He nodded in relief and he stepped away. "My apologies, Lady Yuna. I forget myself sometimes."

Yuna released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "No," she said, "I'm the one that should apologize. I've been impulsive and selfish and it's time I make good on my promises."

Baralai returned to his desk, though Yuna couldn't help noticing the frown on his face despite the relieved tone of his voice. "Can we announce this by overmorrow?"

"Yes." Yuna fidgeted her hands. "And I'm willing to start whenever you want me to."

He shook his head. "Lady Yuna, I think you're under the impression that you will have to answer to me. That is incorrect. You will have people positioned under you, but the only one higher is myself, and my title means little. I simply watch the efforts of the different sects, who in turn coordinate their scholars and warriors. I report back. That is all."

"Warriors?" Yuna asked. "I didn't realize we were organizing military power."

Baralai chuckled. "You really haven't been paying attention, have you? Each sect oversees training certain kinds of soldiers. We haven't lost the need for an organized guard and standing army. You'll be in charge of the priests and mages."

 _In charge_. The words sounded foreign to her, like something out a dream.

"We'll officially appoint you to your office tomorrow," he said, "if it's all right with you. That, and you'll have to work with Nooj and Gippal. I don't envy you for that part."

Yuna blinked. "You mean you don't do that?"

"I do." He leaned back. "But I prefer to avoid arguing with them when I can. They can be rather bull-headed when they want to be. Would you like to be shown to your quarters?"

Yuna shook her head. "No thanks. I _have_ lived here before."

"Of course." He dipped his head forward. "Please let us know if they're satisfactory."

Yuna hesitated. "Chancellor…" she said slowly.

"Please. Baralai."

"Baralai." Yuna chewed her lip. "What's Paine been doing?"

"Oh? She didn't tell you?"

Far as she could tell, no one bothered to tell her anything. "I heard she's been killing fiends, but we both know she's not the kind to be satisfied with such menial, dirty work."

"Ah." He chewed on his lip for a moment before returning his attention to his desk. "It's simple, really. She's been my bodyguard for the past few months. Prevented some pretty dire situations."

"Can't you take care of yourself?" Yuna asked. "Under Bevelle, we fought…"

"I knew you were coming then." Baralai wrote something down on scrolls. "I don't have time now to watch every possible move made by my enemies and predict attacks."

That didn't sound any different to Yuna, but he didn't look like he was going to explain further, so she left it alone.

Baralai paused and pulled a note from one of his drawers to flip between his fingers. He didn't seem to pay it much heed, as he kept his attention on the paperwork before him.

"What's that?" Yuna asked.

He sighed, tapping it against the desk before shoving it back in the drawer. "Nothing," he said. "Just another mystery I'm trying to decipher."

Yuna stepped forward. "What kind of mystery?"

"I'm not sure. 'He will come as her to end your suffering,' it says." He shook his head. "I don't understand it either. I recognize the writing, which is why I haven't thrown it away, but I can't place where."

"Maybe a secret admirer?" Yuna offered with a coy tilt of her head.

Baralai chuckled wryly. "Ha. I doubt that. I wouldn't have time for such things, as it stands."

"The women that look up to you will _find_ the time. But never mind that." Yuna gestured toward the door. "What should I do to prepare?"

"Oh." He pulled out some scrolls. "Here. These should get you started."

He pulled out some _dozen_ scrolls.

Yuna gaped as he then offered them to her. "This should get me _started_? It's not going to finish me as well?"

He shook his head. "It's a paper-heavy environment. I must apologize, as I know the pain, but there's little I can do. Are you having second thoughts?"

"Well, no, but-"

"I'll have them shipped to your room, of course." Baralai dropped them back where he got them. "You don't want to carry these all the way back there."

Yuna deflated as he wrote out a note to himself and couldn't help wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

* * *

Snow paced around the camp, unable to dismiss the image of the sisters from his mind. The one with the ponytail bothered him more than the irritable one and he couldn't help thinking that they were related to a pair of demigoddesses with white faces and black body paint.

Tidus sat by the fire, watching the flames with the attention of a rapt child as it reflected in the small barrier of ice Snow put around the edges. Tidus was still, which must have been from exhaustion, given how far they'd come today. All that laid between them and the ruins now was a large body of water that Tidus said would require a ship to cross.

He never considered himself much of a pacer. It was strange to him that people would move about without going anywhere. And yet, there was something about the open air about them that caused the hair to stand up on the back of his neck. They had no cover to protect themselves thanks to the vast and rolling nature of the plains, and they may as well be open targets to whatever passersby might come. It was too dark here to make out trees, but they hadn't passed many on their way here.

"Hey." Snow paused by Tidus. "How was it that you managed to stop being dead?"

Tidus didn't respond.

"Yo." Snow tapped his forehead. "Kid."

Tidus jumped, snatching Snow's hand before he could pull away. "Oh," he said. "Sorry about that. I was lost in thought."

"No duh."

"I was thinking," Tidus said, releasing Snow, "about Yevon's church. How did he convince people to follow him?"

Snow rested his hands on his waist. "I don't know," he said. "I honestly didn't think much of it, but maybe he used our own human weakness against us."

"He wasn't even a real god," Tidus mused. "He didn't have any power to prove himself."

"So?" Snow dropped to a crouch by the fire whilst keeping a safe distance. Tidus huddled close, arms wrapped around himself to stay warm, but Snow didn't feel cold at all. "We never saw him – didn't have to. He communicated through his priests that gave him the illusion of omnipotence. I should have seen it, though, given the super vague nature of their teachings. Didn't attribute that much good to Yevon himself."

"Huh." Tidus also extended his hands. "Do you tend to doubt your leaders before you realize they're bad?"

Snow furrowed his brow. "Sometimes. Why?"

"I don't understand most human interactions," said Tidus. "You pick someone to follow, and yet you don't do what they say, and often throw them out for someone else within a matter of years."

"Are you okay?" Snow leaned toward him. "Did Yuna dump you?"

"Dump," repeated Tidus. "A strange word to use in this situation."

Snow frowned. "You need to take a break. You're acting funny from the stress."

"Stress."

"Yes." Snow yawned and dropped onto his side. "Go to sleep."

"Did you choose the chancellor?" Tidus asked. "Or did he choose himself?"

Snow threw an arm over his eyes, though he still watched Tidus. "Who knows? So long as he doesn't start killing people for no reason, I'm not gonna worry about it too much."

"You choose the position of a bystander," said Tidus. "Interesting."

"Just go to sleep, kid."

Tidus reluctantly took a spot on the ground and crossed his hands over his stomach, looking up at the stars with an intense gaze.

Snow turned away from him. They didn't bother setting up shifts to take watch, as nothing bothered them these days. Fiends had become less and less common, and there weren't a whole lot of other creatures out there with a thirst for human blood.

He remembered the girls from his dreams, one of them always glad to see him, the other angry and vengeful at the very mention of his name. He remembered missing them both almost as much.

A cool wind blew across the plains, causing the fire behind him to whistle and crackle. Snow turned again to face it and channeled a small ice spell to refresh the barrier that had melted at the edge. As it was, the fire had burned down far enough, it would only eat at the coals for so much longer.

Snow sighed, watching the flames burn on for a few more minutes before closing his eyes and imagining the strange city he thought he knew, with buildings stretching so far into the sky he had to crane his neck to see them and so white that most wore dark glasses during the day to keep from being blinded.

He thought of the roads that threatened a deadly fall to those that didn't watch their step. If only he could remember its name.

The thought distracted him from the vulnerability of being in the open here, with barely a tree to protect them.


	11. Chapter 11

Yuna fidgeted with her robe, remembering how much she hated following the church's guidelines. The shoulders tugged and stretched, yet the hem hung low towards the ground. The sleeves at least allowed her arms to breathe despite the layers she wore underneath. She'd almost forgotten why she hated wearing robes like this as a kid.

Taking a deep breath, Yuna forced herself to leave the protection of her small office. It wasn't much to look at – she didn't have a single item to decorate her desk or shelves – but it did protect her from the rest of the Council and the decisions she would make once she cleared her own doors.

The halls were quiet, with hardly a soul in sight as Yuna made her way to the Council Chamber. It was quiet when she found the room, with only Baralai and Nooj there to greet her. Baralai hunched over the desk in the middle while Nooj leaned against its edge. They whispered in hushed conversation as she made her way over from the door.

"Where's Gippal?" Yuna asked, drawing their attention. She hardly ever saw the three apart ever since they announced the formation of the Council on Sphere.

Nooj pushed away from the table and grabbed his cane. "He had a trip to make."

"Then who'll represent the machine sect?"

"Gippal left his opinions and overview with his vice-leader," Nooj said. "He'll be substituted."

Nooj looked strange in his Historian robes. Instead of the white and purple of Yuna's Religion, his were blood-red and brown. Metallic studs pinned the shoulders of the robes to something stiff underneath, adding a sense of dignity and strength to Nooj's figure. The fabric used in the main body of the robe was rough and weathered.

Yuna frowned. Nooj was done with violence from what she had seen of him. The warrior look provided by his robes felt out of place and inappropriate, but his sect included the heavy-armed and melee soldiers of Spira, so she doubted there was much of a way around that.

"You're free to sit," Baralai said, looking up from some maps and charts. Yuna couldn't help noticing a bandage running across his nose. "The religion sect goes to that side." He gestured to the far right, opposite Nooj.

By herself, then. Yuna nodded and went to her seat.

The robes made her uncomfortable. Not because they branded her a Yevoner above all else, even though she didn't consider herself much of one, but because it provided an obvious wall between the different sects. It marked sides.

Yuna waited quietly as the room filled. The different councilmen at least didn't appear to think much of those barriers that bothered Yuna. Yevoners, Machinists and Historians all mingled together, murmuring in hushed tones as they took their seats. The noise level rose even as what looked like close friends parted. People talked both behind Yuna and to her sides. No one sat in front of her, as she had one of the foremost center seats.

Baralai put away his scrolls once the room was almost full, and pulled out a separate stack.

Yuna swallowed, clasping her hands. Baralai had sent her an overview of the proceedings and what would be discussed, but Yuna couldn't help feeling like she'd stepped into a void. She had no idea how to conduct herself in court or deal with political matters. A decade separated her from what she learned as a child.

Finally, Baralai stood from his desk, and walked around to the front. The room quieted. One of his hands gripped a sash running over the chest of his robes – Yuna felt a surge of jealousy at how well-fitted they appeared compared to hers – and the other rested at his side. His face swept over the circular room with cool, calculating eyes before he spoke.

"My friends," Baralai announced, voice as soft and measured as the time he first greeted Yuna outside Bevelle's headquarters. Despite his reserved tone, his words still carried through the room. "Our first order of business today is to swear in our newest member, the head of the religion sect. The Priestess and High Summoner Yuna."

The crowd rippled with murmurs and a what felt like a thousand eyes turned at once to find her. She swallowed, keeping her eyes on Baralai, who also turned to face her.

"Lady Yuna," Baralai said, voice rising a notch in volume and echoing clearly through the room. "Do you serve Spira?"

Yuna stood, hands gripping her desk for support, as she recalled instructions memorized the night before. "Yes," she said. The Council couldn't trust her. They must wonder why she had stepped up only after the announcement. They must think her a fool, playing for attention.

"... In Spira's best interests?"

Yuna's mouth went dry. What did he say? "Ye-... no," she recited by memory.

"And do you promise to remain unbiased and continuously truthful, always putting first the good of the people?"

"Yes."

It was three questions. Baralai flashed her the slightest smile and turned to look at another side of the room. "Are there any objections?"

The part that Yuna dreaded. If Lulu was right, then who else saw her as negligent?

The room was silent save for the steady rhythm of Baralai's boots as he walked in a slow, circle, watching for raised hands. Yuna could swear she saw a slight limp in his stride. The room stayed quiet.

Baralai finally stopped and faced Yuna. "My Lady," he said. "Thank you for your dedication. Please accept my thanks on behalf of the Council, and welcome to our numbers."

Yuna bowed, sweeping herself close to her desk. "Thank you."

Baralai nodded in return. "Please be seated. Now, for the next order of business…"

Yuna fell into her seat with a sigh of relief. A few of the councilmen around her whispered congratulations and tapped her on the shoulder. Yuna nodded to each of them, too overwhelmed to give a coherent reply. She was a High Councilor, now. The thought felt alien to her.

She missed the first few things said, but soon her head cleared enough to catch the conversation again.

"How goes the excursion in Baaj?" someone in the religious sect asked. "Is it still cordoned off?"

From the machine side, someone dressed in notably finer robes than the rest – he had to be Gippal's vice-leader – answered, "Yes. The artifact has caused notable harm to some of our workers, and we've yet to find a way to neutralize it. We're still waiting on instructions to clear the area."

"So that project is at a standstill," someone said. "What about efforts in Zanarkand?"

"The monkeys running rampant have made it a touch difficult," someone in the historian sect said. "But we're continuing as planned."

"Wait." Yuna perked up. "What are you doing there?"

"The normal, milady," Nooj said. "Scouring for spheres is all we do in that region."

"For now," interjected a machinist. "The things that city hides in its depths could prove vital in our research! I still say we push to have the monkeys removed to allow for more dedicated work."

"Removed?" Yuna asked. "What does that mean?"

"Sin's rain, man!" shouted someone from the religious sect. "Do you have nothing better to do with your funding than exterminate the natural wildlife from their homes?"

"Stop acting, Trell," ordered a harsh-voiced woman. "We all know what you would prefer to hoard our resources for."

"For once," said another councilman, "I agree with the machinists. There's a wealth of knowledge to be found in those ruins. Are we willing to lose that part of our history for the sake of a few monkeys?"

"Zanarkand is a precious place," Yuna called out. "Have we turned it into but a question of spheres versus tourists?"

"Not sphere versus tourists, milady," said one of the elderly gentlemen. "But money versus sphere."

"I think," someone said. "I have a better idea. Rather than waste thousands of gil on extermination, why don't we focus on our schools? We've been so focused on our findings that we've forgotten to stress the upkeep of our systems. Our recruits are so poorly-trained that they can't translate children's books. Have I told you about the time we've lost this month? One of our workers nearly recorded in our databases that a previous maester was half a million years old!"

"We should prioritize," Yuna said. "Before you all-"

Someone else cut her off, "What about our disaster relief? That wildfire killed almost fifty people, and we've done nothing to help!"

"What?" Yuna repeated. "We have to-!"

"The village has it handled," wheezed the same old man from before. "You must learn to delegate. If we spend all our resources trying to help every struggling citizen, then we'll have nothing left for the building of our cities."

"And they lost half of their town. Excuse me, but I don't see your point!"

Yuna gaped, watching the arguments fly in a torrent of barely-civil words. She looked to Baralai and Nooj, but they only watched the debate with intent eyes. Most of the Council followed their example, a lot of them preferring to take notes rather than participate.

"Why does this happen?" Yuna asked a woman next to her. "Why can't they all agree on something?"

"It's politics, dear," the woman said. She looked to be about ten years Yuna's senior. "Nothing gets agreed on in here."

"Can't we do anything?"

The woman shook her head. "Not in _here_ , no. But outside, you can."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, my." The woman regarded her with concern. "You _are_ new to this, aren't you?"

Yuna opened her mouth to protest but knew it would prove pointless. She was _way_ out of her depth on this one. "Yes," she admitted at length. "I am."

"It's a good thing you're close with the chancellor, then." The woman leaned back, looking comfortable. "He'll help you learn the ways around here."

Yuna turned back to the moment, frowning. Nooj and Baralai were her only friends, then. Them and Gippal, at least, assuming he ever got back. She supposed this would be why he left in the first place – she didn't see him ever having any kind of patience for these things. How did he get roped into it in the first place? How did _she_ get roped into it?

With a sigh, Yuna resigned herself to study like the rest. Once she had a better grasp on everything happening around here, she could work out a plan to fix them.

* * *

Chuami watched Leblanc speak with the Mayor of Djose. Chuami took a vantage point away from the village proper, yet people still moved about her as if she didn't exist. Most of the voices clamoring about her had brusque Al Bhed accents and Chuami couldn't understand half of the words she heard. Something about Djose drew them, likely the conductive towers of the neighboring Thunder Plains. The population in Djose shot up after the destruction of their homeland in the desert and now its size rivaled that of Luca.

Leblanc nodded goodbye to the mayor and came Chuami's way. She watched the woman warily as she approached, bright pink boots clicking against the stone.

"You like to keep your eye on things," Leblanc said, joining her. The crowd moved around them, like water parting against a large rock in the ocean. Leblanc gave her a long, hard look.

"I don't like working as a blind peon. If you intend to hustle me into a closet to be brought out occasionally as your sword, then you've got the wrong person."

Leblanc nodded. "As evidenced."

People moved past, smelling of oil and engine grease. Chuami breathed in deeply, watching Leblanc, whose eyes darted among the crowd.

"Is someone supposed to meet us here?" Chuami asked.

"I may have a job for you," Leblanc said, ignoring the question. "Got a couple persons of interest that I need to speak with. They're what we need to have a successful run here."

"Persons of interest," Chuami repeated.

"You might recognize them. I think you're the closest connection that I have."

"Names?"

A shout sounded nearby, and Chuami turned to see a brawl break out among a group of Al Bhed not ten paces from them.

"I have a list," Leblanc said, "I'll get it written up and sent to you. In the meantime, there's something I need to do. Wait for me."

Chuami watched her disappear into the crowd again. Nearby, the fighting Al Bhed spit insults at each other as they got pulled apart by onlookers. Chuami turned, ready to tune them out and find something else to do, when she caught the words "rebel scum."

No one else reacted to the exclamation, and Chuami was tempted to dismiss it as coincidental nonsense. But she _did_ wonder why Leblanc came to Djose. She assumed it was a business trip, but given what Leblanc said when she found her, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that she'd come to-

A bullet rang out in the din, and screams erupted. Chuami whirled to see a single, beefy, Al Bhed man raise a gun high in the air.

"Everyone, down!" he said. "As of today, Djose belongs in the hands of the Leblanc Syndicate!"

Chuami couldn't see a hint of the other woman in the crowd. "Now?" she hissed to herself. " _Now_?"

Confusion rippled through the crowd. Chuami gripped her sword, though she found herself not unlike the clueless villagers here. Who was she kidding? She had no idea what the idiot was planning.

"What is this?" demanded one man. "On whose authority do you do this?"

"Ours!" shouted a lithe, dark-skinned woman. A rallying cry rose with her, given by what sounded like half the population. Chuami hesitated, gripping her sword.

"We don't want a fight!" the woman continued. "We wish only for the good of Spira! Don't resist and you won't be hurt!"

Angry shouts sounded through the square, promptly followed by the big guy from before firing another shot into the air. The crowd quieted, though not without some muted crying.

"We outnumber you two to one!" the same woman shouted. "Resist and you will be slain!"

Thunder rumbled in the sky above and the temple reacted some distance away. A flash lit the sky, followed by a loud _crack_.

Someone shouted angrily and tried to push through the crowd. Another shot rang out and the man screamed as he fell to his knees. Blood gushed from a new hole in his shoulder.

"I repeat!" the Al Bhed shouted. "We will use force!"

Chuami took her hand off her sword, feeling dizzy. She thought they'd wait another month or two. But they'd started. "Wait!" she called, coming their way. "I'm with you!"

"Oh?" The dark woman shouldered her way through the crowd and toward Chuami. "What's this?"

"I've been working with Leblanc for the past several months," Chuami offered, glancing warily about the crowd before focusing on the lady. "I like to consider myself one of her closer advisors."

"Interesting." The woman looked her up and down, one brow raised. "Got much experience?"

Chuami looked to her sword. "I've killed a fiend or two in my time. And I've got my eyes on quite the target."

"We'll take you to the Missus." The woman rejoined her friend and shouted, "Fall in, men! Let's get this town under control!"

Chuami glanced about her, anticipation making her hands sweat against the cloth wrapped around the hilt of her blade. This lull would only last so long – she'd seen too many riots in her time to wish otherwise.

* * *

Rikku liked Djose. A lot of her friends from Home had moved there and the machina community grew at an impressive rate. They almost had a better inventory than Rikku's garage. Of course, these people had an orb simulator that she didn't have, but thankfully, she had connections and they were quick to relinquish it to her.

Lying on the hard garage floor, belly down, Rikku played with the tiny simulator in her hands. She turned the temperature low via the dial on the side and watched the sphere turn half a hue lighter. She dialed it down to freezing, and a message popped up on the screen about the limitations of the temperature control. Rikku ignored it for the hundredth time. Even if the stadium were left alone for days in the depth of winter – Luca never got that cold – then the chill would only get so bad. It certainly wouldn't drop below freezing. It wasn't sabotage, since the kind of device required to pull that off would never have gotten past even the preliminary checks.

Rikku dialed the temperature down past freezing and started the sphere recording of the game again. Both stadiums, simulated and recorded, froze at the same rate. She didn't have any trouble getting it to that point. The crowd on the vid sphere quieted and Rikku leaned in as the stadium paled. It wasn't any of the players. The game played as normal aside from the briefly sleeping Snow and there weren't any obvious signs of a ritual or incantation among the crowd.

Though a stir rippled through as they noticed the ice crawling along the bleachers. Another headache to repair.

Large icicles formed on the rim of the stadium, slowly jutting outward and expanding at an impressive rate. Rikku looked at her simulation. Its surface remained smooth, even when frozen. Water, if frozen naturally, remained smooth. So, this had to be black magic despite Lulu saying that it would take an insanely powerful wizard to pull that off.

Rikku rewound the sphere to the point when the icicles formed on the perimeter. The game went on with some well-placed passes on Tidus' part, but the game got harder and harder to see through the layer of ice.

The Aurochs goal was almost deserted. Most of the action was on the Beasts' goal, but Rikku had almost memorized every move on that end. She didn't care about passes. She watched Snow sleep at his end until he woke and the icicles stopped. Rikku rewound the sphere again.

Snow snapped back awake and the freeze stopped expanding after the fashion of a blizzard spell. It had to be him.

But Snow wasn't a black mage. And even if he was, there was no way he was better than _Lulu_.

The door trilled in the way that meant unwanted visitors. With a groan, Rikku hauled herself to her knees and switched off both spheres. "Who is it?" she asked.

Silence. Rikku stood and walked over "Who _is it_?" she repeated. No one answered. If this was a prank of Gippal's, she was going to rip his legs off and feed them to him. She had work to do!

No answer came. Rikku narrowed her eyes and packed her spheres. It could have been faulty.

Her CommSphere beeped.

"Ugh!" Rikku yanked it out of her bag. "Why do people keep doing this? Why am I the only competent one around here?"

"Rikku!" Brother appeared and made a hushing sound. "Quiet!"

" _You_?" she asked, switching to Al Bhed. " _You're_ doing this?"

He shook his head. "No! Shh!"

Shots fired in the distance. Rikku paused. "What was that?"

"The temple," Brother said, his image flickering. "They're under attack!"

"By who?"

"Anti-Yevoners! Shinra rang in, said they're trying to destroy the temple!"

Rikku jumped on her board. "Where's Pops?" she asked as the small engine whirred to life.

Brother shook his head. "We were both on the _Celsius_ when it happened, but Shinra's still over there."

Shinra wasn't totally recovered from the incident with Omega a year ago. If he was trapped in a crossfire, he would be a liability at best, casualty at worst. "I need to get him," Rikku said. "And we need to get a message to the Council. Let them know what happened."

"Aye. I'll take the message. Do you think I might talk to Yuna in person?"

Rikku smacked the sphere. "Creep! Stop pretending you like her! We have other things to worry about!"

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it!"

With that, Rikku activated the door and sped out in the direction of the temple.

Djose never was one of the healthier settlements. Hopefully this attack wasn't specifically leveled for that reason. With the Al Bhed relocated once in the past few years, it would prove devastating if they were forced out again.

And it would prove devastating for the people that caused it, given that Rikku would _rip their hides from their bones!_


	12. Chapter 12

Safe in her office, Yuna fell into her chair with a heavy sigh. She was ready for blatant disrespect and even hostility upon entering the Council, but no one warned her of being _dismissed_ by everyone. She fiddled with a Psychic's sphere sitting on her desk, letting it roll between her fingers.

The Machinists wanted to salvage the remains of Zanarkand to preserve machinery. The Yevoners wanted to preserve the sacredness of it. The Historians wanted spheres. And then a large portion of the unaffiliated simply wanted the site opened to the public for the sake of those wanting to pay respects to loved ones and tour the area and all that. Yuna favored the religious side, of course, but surely there was another option – one that would satisfy all parties involved.

Moving by habit, she pulled her old garment grid from her bag and snapped it to her wrist. The grid clenched tighter than she remembered, its crystal latch pinching the skin of her wrist.

Perhaps they could consider scheduled periods of time in which the public could visit the old ruins. Or maybe strict observance of visitors, whether by the Council or another party. They'd brought up such ideas during the meeting, but none went beyond bare consideration. Perhaps she could construct a proposal that they would listen to.

Yuna fingered the sphere in her hands, turning it over at least two or three times as the ghost of an emotion left goosebumps along her arm. The tiniest crackles of energy could be seen flickering inside, sparkling in hues of silver-blue and white. A faint whisper murmured in her ear, but it didn't emanate from the sphere. At least, it didn't sound like it did, but Yuna knew better.

She had yet to get Baralai and Nooj's opinions. If anyone knew how to satisfy the crowd, then surely Baralai learned to in the time he spent as Chancellor.

She placed the Psychic above the Gunner and White Mage that Paine and Rikku had so graciously left her. Swallowing her hesitations, she clipped the grid to her wristband and watched as the familiar light enveloped her arm and rapidly spread up to her shoulder and across her chest.

Her shirt darkened and constricted slightly around her middle while her skirt split and flared out. Her vision tinged black with the shade of the visor that appeared before her eyes.

Voices erupted in her head in a cacophony of indiscernible tones and dialects, though she heard a recurring echo of pain from the Farplane itself, hurt by the intrusion of foreigners and those who didn't belong in its dead and dying streams. Magic used in its presence-

"Lady Yuna."

The voices quieted. Her old battle instincts kicked in and with a thought she appeared behind Baralai. He jumped. "What are you doing with that?"

"Paine never told you."

"Didn't tell me what? She kept the spheres to herself. After the massacre and we split up, when we met again, she was _different_."

That wasn't all said aloud. But it was hard to tell the difference between what was and what wasn't. "She still cares. She won't say so, but she does."

His lips moved this time and he smiled but not with his mouth. "The power of the spheres."

"Yes. It's been a while."

Baralai moved away from her by only an inch with his left foot. He wanted to leave again. "Maybe I should come back later? I don't know if I want to. How does it work? Is it really another person in your head?"

She stopped seeing him as a physical entity – the commotion in his head proved far more interesting.

"Isn't that Paine's dress sphere? You wouldn't steal it, you're above that. Did Paine give it to you? Did something happen?"

The distrust bothered her. It made her want to snap his hand and fry his mind and tear his body to pieces. "I'm no thief."

"That's what I thought. Didn't I? Did I miss something?"

"It's underneath. You're disciplined, more so than average, but I can still hear the underlying message in your thoughts. It's louder than the din conjured by the crowd outside this building, but it's quieter than your words."

"You're not Yuna. Of course, of course! The sphere speaks over the user, it overlays the sphere's persona in a layer of-"

"Yes." She looked down to her wrist, where all she needed to do was touch a separate sphere and this madwoman would be cast from her mind. That would be the reasonable thing to do. "But I don't want to."

Confusion rattled Baralai's mind, tainted by an edge of panic. She knew better than this, though she'd forgotten. Practice helped the user learn control over the separate consciences and she hadn't used it in too long for her control to affect the stronger spheres.

"Take it off."

The urge came again, to rip this self-proclaimed leader apart. "No."

He tried to suppress it, but she caught the thought of _stop you_. Without a touch, she yanked the staff from his fragile hands and rammed it into his chest before he could attempt to dislodge the sphere himself.

Baralai fell to the ground and his mind erupted into such colorful language, she stopped to process the sound. Baralai never swore.

But another flash in his mind caused for further intrigue. Yuna floated in closer to inspect his face as he stared back with defiant eyes. Yuna touched his chest and Baralai recoiled. "The gunshot still hurts?" she asked.

"You…" He took a labored breath, "… have no idea."

She watched incoherent images of a dark figure and splattered blood and glowing pyreflies dance through the surface of his mind.

"More than one. Squad. Den. Too many. Blood on the walls, the dirt, my hands. Would have saved her, though, but broke. They always do, when you push far enough, peel back the skin to reveal-"

Some of her old self returned as a sick sensation embroiled her stomach. She cried out and stumbled back as the smell of rotting things consumed. Hot tears pricked her eyes at the thought of pyreflies so numerous they lit the night.

Pain pounded in her skull and the other being wailed in rage, fighting for dominance and desperate to keep hold. Terrified of losing its life. The shadow of a beast larger than the palace filled her view for a moment, its grip on the city throttling the life from their eyes.

Baralai's corruption, a sickly taint that smelled of incense. A bloodlust reignited by the terror of past possession and the continued efforts of a god beyond their world.

Slamming her hand against the sphere, Yuna activated white mage. Her knees buckled from the sudden change and she hit the ground, vision clouded. Mind muddled, she summoned a weak cure in her hands that dispersed again in an instant.

 _Ow_. It took her a minute to realize that was her thought and not his.

Her blood pulsed softly. The soothing, evenly measured beats of white magic. A cure. She was going to cure someone. Her?

No. Baralai.

"I'm sorry," Yuna whispered. The headache remained, but she was herself again. "That was kind of rude of me."

He squinted his eyes shut. "I apologize for being so forward, but yes. One could say that wasn't the perfect image of kindness."

"Ugh." The cure dispersed again and Yuna gave up. "You'll have to take care of yourself. This sphere transfer's not working very well."

"Yeah, about that…" He heaved himself to his feet and gripped his stomach. "It's not exactly my first broken rib."

Yuna looked down at the Psychic's sphere, which still crackled furiously with pent-up energy. How long had it been trapped in there for? She didn't remember it being so difficult to control before.

Baralai pressed himself against the wall, hand lighting with a soft glow. "Perhaps it's better that we leave it be. I can send for a vault to be prepared, unless you would prefer to destroy it."

"No." Yuna pulled the garment grid from her wrist, which left her skin irritated and pink. "I'll get control of it again, though I'll need time to re-adjust."

"Milady. Are you sure about that?"

"Quite." Yuna gave him a reassuring smile. "I've done it many times before, or don't you remember?"

He reluctantly smiled back, though not without a notable grimace. "Of course."

Yuna felt a stab of worry. "What's wrong?"

"The cure's not working," he said at length, inhaling deeply. "You may have punctured something."

"Ah!" Yuna scrambled to her feet. "Let me help!"

"No." Baralai held up a hand to keep her away. "You're struggling as well. I think it's time I simply visited the medic."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as you are about that sphere." Baralai cast it a wary look before taking his staff and moving toward the door. He paused before leaving, looking at her with a hint of desperation in his eyes. "I know I can't talk you out of it, so just… be careful with it. I would hate to resort to further violence."

Before Yuna found the words to respond, he bowed his head and left whilst leaning heavily on his staff.

* * *

When their ship touched the shore of one small island in the Baaj ruins middle of the morning, Snow thanked his makers and got out with unsteady legs. Tidus followed right behind him

"You've been here before?" Snow asked, taking in the misty ruins and broken ground. The enclosed and difficult nature of the place could prove dangerous if they weren't careful. "Got any idea where we're going?"

Tidus shook his head. "That's what I was going to ask you to do. I think you have a better idea of where it is than myself."

Snow cast him a suspicious look. The kid was still talking in that strange way and Snow wondered if maybe Tidus' time in the city did something to him.

"You expect me to lead the way." Snow slammed a fist into his open palm. "And I won't disappoint! A discovery quest it is!"

"Actually." Tidus clasped his hands behind his back. "I should get back to the city. I'll leave the boat here for you, but I was hoping to work on some things while you figured it out."

"What?" Snow turned on Tidus, who looked up at him with a blank expression. "Why did you come, then?"

"You've never been here before," Tidus said slowly. "I… have."

"Huh." Snow looked around them at the crumbling structures. "Okay. I can work with that."

"Right, then." Tidus jumped back into the boat. "Be careful."

Snow watched him launch out into the water. Thanks to the heavy fog, it only took moments for the kid to disappear into the horizon.

"Right," Snow said to himself, turning to face the ruins. "If I were a big source of magic and disruptions, where would I hide?"

* * *

"What in the _name of Yevon_ was that?!" Tidus yelled at himself as he steered their boat through the water separating Baaj from the mainland, wind whipping at his face. "Give me one reason not to turn around right now and tell Snow there was a _stupid_ misunderstanding!"

Minwu returned to a quiet presence in the back of his mind, not entirely there and yet with enough control over Tidus' body to _take over for a couple of days_.

"Bevelle," Minwu said. "Snow has power enough to take care of himself without our help. I'm more worried about your planet, Vision."

Tidus bit his lip, unable to stay mad at the genuine sense of concern that washed over him. "What about it?" he asked with some reluctance.

"Tensions are high and it's not unlikely that your people will overthrow the government for petty reasons again."

"Ending Sin was _not petty_."

"No." A sense of hesitance. "But it has given your people the confidence they need to do it again. I agree that abolishing Yevon's rule was necessary for the good of your planet, but I worry about the seeds that it has planted. As Yevon wasn't something you saw as 'fixable,' it only taught the population how to throw out that which is damaged."

Tidus' heart skipped a beat. "They see the Council as damaged?"

"I should think you would know better than I."

He remembered all the broadcasts he saw before they left. "The media like to exaggerate," he said. "Doesn't mean Spira's in rebellion."

"Not yet. I'm hoping we can prevent such an outcome if we get to Bevelle in time."

"Fine." Tidus stuck his chin out. "You win this one, but you'd better not take me over again without getting permission first."

"I will do my best."

Tidus turned up the speed on the motor, blasting them toward the mainland.

* * *

The Djose temple was in chaos. Rikku hesitated when the skirmish came into view. Al Bhed yanked out of their residences by swarming Spirans armed with only staves, rocks, and the occasional gun. The Al Bhed stationed in front of the temple held, but those not close to the temple were left at the mercy of the surging Spirans. Screams and shouts echoed Rikku's way and she activated her Alchemist. Two more bodies fell, an Al Bhed man and a Spiran woman not much older than her.

"Hey!" she screamed, snapping her board to her back. "What's _gotten into everybody_?!"

A hand grabbed her leg, and Rikku snapped her attention down to see a small Al Bhed child with a punctured helmet and ripped suit.

"Help," the girl managed in a small voice.

Rikku cursed and summoned a cure. She dropped to her knees beside the kid that looked younger than Shinra.

She'd barely patched a gash on the girl's face when rough hands yanked Rikku's arm upward. Rikku responded instinctively by grabbing her blaster and ramming the butt into the offender's stomach.

The attacker was a Spiran, not a particularly large one, but a lean and well-toned man missing a shirt. He fell, sputtering.

Rikku turned back to the child. "Where's Shinra? Do you know?"

"Hostage," the girl gasped. "There, the building near the temple."

The inn. Rikku nodded her thanks, leaving a potion with the quickly-mending girl. "Run as far as you can!" she shouted behind her. "Get help!"

Judging from Shinra's message, he must have had a sphere system to link to, which meant he had a computer, and he would have been in a secure building at the time.

Rikku skirted her way through the thinner edge of the riot, slamming her blaster into anyone that tried to stop her. She wasn't going to shoot into an open crowd and risk the innocent lives of those caught up in this huge mess, but she could at least defend herself.

The bar, which had taken on some popularity for a talented barmaid, was blown out and abandoned. Rikku wondered what could have instigated such destruction that way. Then refocused on finding Shinra.

The inn's doors gave way beneath a well-placed blast from her rifle and Rikku entered. In the dim light, she could see that bodies laid scattered across the ground, all Spiran. And all smoking with residual dark energy.

Rikku blinked at the sight of Shinra working quietly at the computer, his screen the only light in the room. Most of his chill suit and helmet were missing and his blond hair stuck to his forehead with sweat that beaded down the sides of his face. There was something wrong with this picture, but Rikku resolved to deal with Shinra's newfound creepiness later.

"Took you long enough," he said without looking her way. "I got word to the Council and pinged the other temples for word on their statuses. Bevelle finally got back to me and they're safe, but there was an attempt on their gates. It appears they're even better protected than we are, though the efficiency of their communication leaves something to be desired. I don't think even the Council heard about their attack until recently."

Rikku let out a breath. She refrained from slapping Shinra for his nonchalance. "If you're fine-" she glanced outside- "then could you maybe help out here? We're short on hands, in case you haven't noticed."

Shinra nodded and turned to face her. "I left specific instructions for Besaid and the others to contact the Council first, given that our situation here is precarious at best. Behind you."

Rikku twisted and kicked out the legs of a woman rushing from behind.

"I'll catch you up," Shinra said. "But first, let's get somewhere safe. I was working with the rest of the crowd assuming this building was safely controlled by rebels, but now that they're aware that we have access to communications, they'll probably destroy the computer first-"

" _Cruud_!" Rikku shouted, grabbing Shinra and running. " _Muitsuidr_!" They had to get to the temple. "Where's Gippal?"

"I don't know!"

Rikku continued forward, barely making it through a break in the surge of people trying to get into the temple, where machine gun after machine gun fired into the crowd.

One of the large, beefy Al Bhed men shouting orders saw Rikku and ordered a halt on the weapons closest to them. Other Al Bhed grabbed arm blades and took over for the still machine guns.

"Hana!" Rikku shouted, recognizing the small girl. She'd recently joined the machine sect's efforts. "Where's Gippal?"

Hana shook her head, gesturing to the temple. "Haven't seen him. But he left me in charge and I don't know what I'm doing, so I gave authority back to Aril. Is that okay?"

"You have no idea where he left?" Rikku urged Shinra inside the temple while she followed. The dim light inside engulfed them. "Ugh. He's so irresponsible."

One of the defending Al Bhed cried out and Hana turned away. "Stay inside!" she shouted. "We're sealing the temple!"

"What?" Rikku gasped. "We can't stay here forever! The _Celsius_ is parked nearby! if we can get to it, then-"

The door closed again and darkness fell in the temple's foyer.

"That's not good," Shinra said, his voice echoing in the dark. "I was hoping we could at least get some of the enemy's Al Bhed back before preparing for the siege."

 _Siege_? Rikku looked at Shinra, whose eyes glowed in the dark, as did his veins. Another parting gift from Omega. "Looks like I'll need an update." Rikku turned back to Hana. "What's going on outside?"

"Rebellion," said Hana. "I think."

"New lady in charge." Shinra grabbed a thin, flexible wire from his bag and fidgeted with the ends. He tied a knot in it. "Been gathering power in the town until her cronies declared a coup this morning."

Rikku gaped. "Why Djose? Why not Bevelle?"

"Resources." Shinra untied his wire. "I suspect she doesn't have enough power to try something as big as Bevelle, and while Djose has no political presence, it's the highest-producing in raw power. We have weapons, communications, engineers… it's a prime spot, if you think about it. We have access to at least half of Spira's technological resources."

Hana let out a whistle. "Cid told me you were only ten."

Shinra gave her a flat stare beneath his plastered bangs. "Twelve."

"Where's your helmet?"

"Where's _yours_?"

"I'm not Al Bhed!"

Shinra turned his attention back to Rikku. "We need to stop them from employing the machines we have. We keep most of them in the temple, but if they march on Bevelle, then I can't guarantee that they won't win against the Council's forces. And even if they don't, they'll kill hundreds of Bevelle's soldiers before their machines are worn out."

"So-" Rikku huffed- "we wait them out. How long can our resources hold?"

"A week," said Hana. "I think. If we stretch it, we may be able to make it to next month. That's what Aril said."

"Iffy." Rikku looked around them. "Do we have any way of fighting back?"

"Not until we can get back outside. But can't we set some traps?"

"Do it." Rikku grabbed Shinra. "And you follow me. We need to talk about this power of yours…"


	13. Chapter 13

The afternoon was warm and clear while Yuna worked away at filing her first transfer request. She was barely sworn in two days ago and yet had to rearrange half of her sect by the next morning. The management division was badly neglected in the time it took to get a proper leader in place, which led to some unsightly issues in the lower levels. Or so Baralai said. She personally couldn't understand a word of the information before her.

Yuna grabbed the pen three feet away and floated it near with a frown. No one had warned her about the sheer level of scrollwork involved in official positions on the Council.

Nooj knocked on the door and Yuna sighed with relief. Any break was welcome. She opened the door with a gesture of her hands.

 _Something's wrong_ , Nooj thought.

Yuna nodded. "I haven't taken it off." She gestured to her Grid. "I've adjusted, though, so you don't have to worry about me stabbing you through the stomach as well."

 _Baralai_ -

"Is my fault, yes. I'm sorry. I should have been more careful with my assimilation." She heard again the song of unrest singing sweetly in her ears. "The population here is uneasy. Did something happen?" She couldn't place why the sound sent a thrill of satisfaction up her spine.

 _I hope he'll be okay._ Guilt rattled Nooj's mind, and Yuna saw him pulling the trigger again. Bodies dropped four, five, six times. Paine cried out as Baralai and Gippal yelled in pain and surprise. Twice. Three times. Four-

That was it. Yuna unlatched her grid and yanked it off. Nooj raised his eyebrows.

It was strange. No matter how many times she changed, the transition left her shaking. The other sense of self left and Yuna felt back to her normal mind. She forced a smile, but Nooj kept a stern look of concern.

"I ask again," she said, "did something happen?"

Nooj's mouth tightened into a fine line and he hobbled forward, pulling a scroll out of his bag. Yuna grimaced. _Everything_ here was on scrolls.

"We've received reports. Of an uprising."

Yuna stared at the words on the pages on her desk. They swam together, words like "dead" and "frightened" standing out like sore thumbs. "They're rebelling?"

"In short, yes." Nooj heaved a heavy sigh and massaged his temples. He must have received this news some time ago.

"Why didn't you bring this to me before?" she asked as she picked up a list of religious sites attacked. "When did it start?"

"To the first question, you were a little… shall we say, occupied?" Nooj took a seat and pulled a paper out of his pocket to play with. "A raid on the Djose Temple. The Al Bhed – ahem, those belonging to the machine sect – on site got word to us within the hour. After that, we received reports of various temple goers being attacked, possibly taken as hostages.

"The exact intent and purpose of the rebels are unknown and we haven't heard anything from Djose since the attack. In addition, all roads there are blocked by rebel territory. They've taken most of the land from the Moonflow to Macalania. Besaid had no trouble beating off their attackers, at least – apparently, the rebels underestimated the mayor you have over there. Said mayor also provided a fair number of rebel witnesses – honestly, she should be here in our place. Kilika's status is unknown, as we've lost communication with them."

First the Guado and the Ronso, and now the rest of Spira. "This is primarily a religious attack," Yuna said. Nooj nodded. She took a scroll listing names of the reported missing and injured. "These are all high-class workers and assets. Mechanical specialists…" _Shinra – Al Bhed Technician: missing… Rikku – Al Bhed Technician: missing… Chuami – Historian Protector_ : _missing._ Something dropped in Yuna's stomach. "And councilmen."

"Again. Intentions are unknown."

Yuna looked outside. She could make out the noise of commotion, but couldn't tell anything from the distance. "What about the temple here?" she asked. "What's going on out there?"

Nooj shook his head. "The warrior branches are doing what they can, but the rebels sent what looks like most of their army here. And while the soldiers we've gathered aren't something to laugh at, it's barely holding together. We've never faced civil war before."

 _Civil war._ The words hit Yuna in the gut. How could they fight amongst themselves like this?

"Okay," she said. "First things first. We have a skirmish right on our doorstep. If Baralai can move, then we need him to make some announcements. Nooj, you need to take control of your troops."

Nooj nodded, but Yuna saw his hesitance in the way he averted his gaze. She fell quiet and looked helplessly at him.

"Baralai can't move?"

Nooj shook his head.

"I broke his ribs."

"Yes." Nooj stilled the paper in his hands. Yuna thought it looked strangely familiar. "He's been through much worse. Trust me."

Yuna looked down at the reports. They couldn't spend too long waiting for him. "You need to lead them. You belong with the army. Not in the Council."

"You'd be surprised, Lady Yuna." When she looked up again, his eyes were soft, unfitting his gruff appearance. "I'd prefer to stay on the Council, but perhaps it would be better for you to take the political side of things."

Yuna blinked. "Me?"

"Yes." Nooj looked at the paper in his weathered hands. "You spent upwards of two years of your life battling demons and your own race. You're the High Summoner, and while there are many things you have yet to learn about politics, you're familiar with the attention of a world."

"I wouldn't say that."

Nooj leaned back. "My historians have reclaimed a considerable number of spheres, some dating back to Zanarkand's time. But do you know how many we've obtained from before the Great War?"

"A dozen?"

"Two." Nooj held up the fingers to emphasize. "Care to guess why?"

Yuna shook her head.

"Most artifacts we've labeled unsalvageable have been due to extensive damage from an unknown cause. Despite all the technology the Al Bhed have recovered, nothing we have traces to the origin of the damage. Despite all our attempts to uncover the true, unbiased history, there's some mystery weapon out there capable of incinerating spheres and the hardest concrete."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Nooj gestured outside to the cloudless sky. "In the past, humanity was pushed to develop a weapon capable of destroying an inordinate amount of land and people at once. Our goal here as a council is to keep that from happening again."

Yuna blinked and fidgeted her fingers. "Are you saying we shouldn't pursue the advancement of technology?"

"Not at all." Nooj stood and moved for the door, cane clicking against the stone. "Come."

Yuna followed. "Where are we going?"

He gave her the closest to a smile she ever saw on him. "To take you out of these offices and put you back out for the world to see you."

Nooj moved to put the paper back in his pocket, but Yuna grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. When he shot her a quizzical look, she flushed and let go, gesturing to the note. "Baralai has a message like that one." She bit her cheek. "Do you know what it means?"

Nooj rounded on her, gripping his cane a little tighter. "He what?"

"'He has come as her-'"

"I know what it says." Nooj continued forward. "I'll have to arrange a talk with Baralai about that. For now, though, let's focus on your relationship with the council."

Yuna followed him, a vague sense of dread settling in the pit of her stomach. A civil war, with her at the head. What was the world coming to?

* * *

Tidus wilted at the sight of the Bevelle temple beyond the city walls. Even from here, he could make out the faint scent of incense. "Do we have to?" he asked.

"Yes." Minwu appeared beside him, translucent lines floating and breaking off near his feet. "As easy as it would be to assume Snow's departure were all this planet needed, we cannot afford that luxury."

Tidus groaned and stalked forward. Addressing the guards at the gate, he said, "Okay, guys. I know things are kind of messy out there, but you know I'm a friend, right?"

The left, taller one pulled out a sphere whilst keeping rigid posture. "Can I get a confirmation on Tidus from Besaid?"

"Roger that," crackled back the response.

Tidus exchanged a look with Minwu, who showed no exasperation or surprise. Just knowing patience. Tidus noticed then that the ghost of a man stood almost a head taller than him.

"Tidus!" came Yuna's distorted voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll tell you when I get inside!" Tidus shifted his feet. "I've been traveling forever and I would really like to sit down soon."

"Let him in, please!"

The sphere clicked off and the guards promptly stepped aside to let him under the arch. The place didn't look any different since he was last here, though it somehow felt… darker. No clouds disturbed the sun's light, nor did the rooftops provide enough shelter to make it appear any dimmer than it should.

"I know that scent," Minwu murmured. "There's a corruption about this place."

Tidus snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it. Yevon left quite a legacy to scrub out of here."

"It's…" Minwu shook his head. "Never mind."

The trek up to the palace walls took ages, the streets twisting and stretching onward until he finally stepped into the shadow of its entrance gates. Said gates burst open at his approach to show a huffing Yuna with robes in slight disarray. Minwu stiffened and vanished into nothing.

"Hey," Tidus said, hopping up the stairs. "I hope you all didn't miss me too much."

"You made good time." Yuna took him by the arm and they walked inside together. "One of the elders was about to subject me to an extended lecture."

Tidus' sphere trilled. "Speaking of which." He answered and found Lulu's face on the surface.

"It appears there's a base near here," she droned. "Oh, Yuna, good to see you."

"A base," Tidus repeated. "Rebels?"

"Yes. If you could scout it out, I would be… obliged. The village wants to be babysat, I'm afraid, and most here haven't seen much beyond the island."

"You betcha." Tidus clicked it off again. "Turning into the quite the errand-runner, these days."

"I doubt the people upstairs are going to be much better," Yuna said. "Gippal especially doesn't like to hold onto his responsibilities and might shove some onto your while you're here."

"I'll have to keep my distance then."

Tidus followed Yuna up a floating elevator and down more twisting hallways. By the time they found the council room, he could swear his feet burned with the might of a thousand suns.

The room was sizeable, with a large desk in the center surrounded by padded chairs. The walls were made almost entirely out of glass, and it let in brilliant sunlight to illuminate the whole space in a silver-white hue. A large screen hung from the far end, showing newsflashes around Luca and Bevelle, with occasional cuts to other locations.

Baralai was the only occupant when they entered, and he offered them a wan smile and shallow bow from his spot at the head of the desk. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon, Yuna."

"I thought you'd like to see Tidus." Yuna took a seat at the desk. "He's seen the roads up until here and knows where the rebellion is and isn't."

"I don't know that I would say that…"

Baralai picked up his sphere. "Nooj, bring Gippal. We might have some good news."

"What are you doing?" Tidus looked around them. The room was too big and shiny and clean. "I wasn't gonna-"

"You _will_ stay," said Minwu, materializing near Baralai. "This is where we can best help your world."

"I have to go help Lulu," Tidus said. "As soon as possible."

The door opened and Yuna stood. "It'll only take a moment," she said as Nooj and Gippal entered. "I'm sorry."

"Hey!" Gippal crowed, throwing an arm around Tidus' shoulders. "It's the dead guy! Oh, man, I haven't seen you in ages! What have you been up to?"

Tidus glanced at Minwu, who shook his head. Tidus turned back to Gippal. "Playing blitzball, of course!"

Yuna noticed the glance and looked about them for a moment before retaking her seat.

"Take your seats, please," Baralai said. "Tidus, would you let us know what you've found?"

Tidus took a spot beside Yuna. "I don't know, man. I guess people were acting a little strange around Djose when we left, but I think I missed a lot of the action. What happened?"

"Rebellion," Nooj said. "Uprising that started near the Moonflow and spread through Djose and Mi'ihen."

"Speaking of," said Gippal, gesturing to the screen. "Looks like someone stepped forward."

"Breaking news," played out over the sphere and the room quieted. A lady wearing bright pink spoke with the meek priestess they met at the Bevelle temple during the uproar some years back. The pink lady spoke with an airy voice, "Yes, my dear, I planned the whole thing. Even I was surprised to find so many accept my ideas!"

Yuna accepted a cup of tea from Baralai. " _Leblanc_? That can't be right. We should be more concerned about these reports of animal attacks."

"The Council is full of deceit and lies," Leblanc said from the sphere screen, tone even and voice lilting. "Honestly, I'm surprised we didn't see it sooner. How many people know that the chancellor himself was in cahoots with the late Maester Seymour? Do they know that he spent a whole year under Seymour's tutelage before sneaking away to take over the church of Yevon from the inside?"

"Baralai," Gippal said, warning in his voice as the reporter questioned Leblanc for specifics. "This isn't good."

"We know that," Nooj said.

Baralai sat stiff as a board, mouth tightened into a fine line. He looked kinda sick, now that Tidus thought of it.

"And the Al Bhed," Leblanc continued, acting with a flair that left Tidus feeling like he was watching some dramatization. "Gippal!"

"What?!" Gippal demanded, jumping to his feet. "Say it, witch! What could you possibly have on me?!"

"What a warmonger! How many guns and machines has he stashed away over the years? Honey, he's had so much time to collect, I think I would faint if I saw his stash!"

Gippal let out an incoherent cry before lunging at the screen, only to be restrained by Nooj. Despite the cane, the guy held his own against the younger and stronger Gippal. " _Oui moehk pedlr!_ I'll kill you!"

"She's lying, right?" Tidus asked. "Who's supposed to believe that?"

"Not lies." Nooj pulled Gippal back when he calmed down enough to stop trying to claw at the sphere.

Baralai raised a hand. "Not about me, at least."

"What?" Tidus looked between them. "You worked with _Seymour_?"

"It's not like that," Yuna said, taking Tidus' hand. "But I'll tell you about it later. Is it the same with you, Gippal?"

"Not really," Gippal said while Baralai knocked back a swig of tea like it was saké. "I mean, I've been stocking weapons, but the machine sect has full, regularized access. It's not a personal arsenal or anything!"

"And that Blitzball player!" cried Leblanc. "Who was I to know Tidus was together with our dear, _innocent_ Lady Yuna?"

"What do you mean?" asked the reporter. "Their relationship has been public for some time! Did he deceive you?"

"Oh." Nooj deflated. " _Yevon_."

"It was long ago," Leblanc said, "two years, I think. Or maybe three – I can't recall. He stole my heart! He promised we would run away together!"

Yuna choked on her tea. Tidus felt like he was watching a train wreck in slow motion.

"He promised his heart." Leblanc made a show of choking up, clutching at her breast as if stabbed through. "But he disappeared when Sin died, leaving me pregnant and alone!"

Tidus' jaw dropped. "Yuna," he protested, "you _know_ I didn't-!"

Yuna waved a hand and her mouth twisted as if she tasted something sour. "I believe you, of course."

"It doesn't _matter_ what Yuna believes," Gippal said. "Burning sand, she'll sound like she's in denial if she refutes it!"

Leblanc continued to explain how rough raising the child is, that he's all the image of his father and how she wished for Tidus to see his son's face. "Who believes this?" Tidus asked, voice raising an octave. "I should think she remember how old the kid is, but she talks like she doesn't remember!"

"She doesn't _have_ a kid, does she?" Gippal pointed at the screen like they couldn't see it. "How's she going to prove it?"

"She'll find one," Nooj said. "Believe me. It'll have to blond, but she'll find one."

"How many blond, non-Al Bhed kids are out there?"

"It doesn't matter!" Baralai threw his hands to the sides. "Don't you see what's happening? She's planting the seeds of doubt and no matter what we respond with or how we approach it, we can't get the rumors out of these people's heads." He slapped a hand to his forehead. "I need alcohol."

"I never took you for a drinker," Tidus said.

"You _shouldn't_ be drinking." Yuna gaped. "In the state you're in-!"

"HA!" Gippal threw his head back. "Oh, if only you saw us in the squad!"

"You're easy to explain." Nooj looked at Gippal. "Tell them what you told us and we'll provide the paperwork, maybe some demonstrations. We don't want to give away the location where you're storing the weapons for the sake of not arming the rebellion, but we can show them how the process works."

"Baralai's going to be harder," Gippal said.

"One year." Baralai groaned and leaned over the table with a grimace. "That's all it was, but we don't have a whole lot of evidence to back that up. I made a point of not leaving a lot of witnesses behind."

"Killed?" Gippal asked.

Baralai spared him a suffering look. "I may have trained with the Crimson Squad, but I'm not a monster. I avoided making any acquaintances or connections, paperwork and such as well."

Yuna stood, gripping her head. "I need air. If you'll excuse me, I'll retire to my room."

"Want me to come with?" Tidus asked, touching her hand.

She shook her head but lingered close by. "The quiet will do me good, I think."

"I'll be serving dinner," Baralai said. "Would you like something taken up?"

"I think better when I don't eat. I'll visit the kitchens before bed."

"As long as we don't find you collapsed on the floor tomorrow," Gippal called after her.

" _And next, we'll ask wandering magicians about life on other planets-_ "

Nooj shut off the screen. "It won't do us any good to dwell on this."

"We should prepare a statement, though." Baralai dropped his head in his hands. "Sweet Lady Yunalesca, this part of it never gets easier."

"Yeah," Tidus scoffed. "That sucks. Sorry I couldn't bring better news."

Nooj rang a rectangular device on the wall. "This shouldn't distract us from our goal. We still have a revolution on our hands, and I'd rather we not forget the innocents on the line."

"Of course." Baralai dragged himself upright against his chair and tapped a finger on the table. "Priorities."

"Oh, I have priorities," Gippal said with a huff and crossed arms. "But you can bet that dealing with that chick isn't far from the top."

"What can I do?" Tidus asked.

"Not much," said Nooj. "We have Yuna adjusting to the troops, but there isn't much we can do with them before we find the rebel base. Djose is swarmed, according to the reports, but we're still negotiating with the hostage-holders there."

"You need a scout."

"We have scouts," Baralai murmured.

"No," Tidus said, standing. "You need a _good_ scout. Where's Rikku? She'd kill at this."

There was a pause. "Last we heard, she's in Djose," Baralai said. He averted his eyes. "In the temple."

"So, she's already on the job?"

"No." Gippal's face shadowed and his mouth thinned into a line. "The temple cut off contact almost a week ago, with countless Al Bhed still inside. Rikku, from what we can tell, is among them."

* * *

The electric lights of the Djose Temple's stands glowed soft in the otherwise dark atmosphere of Rikku and Shinra's working space. The stands crackled and sparked in reaction to some of the other machines present.

Rikku paced as she waited for her machine to boot up. Shinra slept quietly off to the side, a translocator gripped tightly under one arm. Half a dozen other children surrounded him.

The time was probably late, but it got hard to tell, buried as they were beneath all the rock that separated them from the outside world. The hours or days or whatever it was blended together after a while when the only light they ever had to see by was the electric glow of the temple's lamps.

Rikku continued to pace, stomach knotting. She'd built a signal booster, but it felt childish in how futile it was. Trying to get a signal out of a cave felt like trying to drink sand. It was theoretically possible, but the substance wasn't meant to interact with its surroundings like she needed it to. And it could maybe kill them all if she wasn't careful.

The room Rikku and Shinra took was one of the small preparation rooms the temple had previously used for patrons to dress and meditate in. Most of the red carpet and wall hangings remained, though many of Yevon's symbols had been burned or torn away. Those who had pillaged this temple showed an uncharacteristic care in not damaging anything of value outside of the symbols and paintings. Aside from the machinery running through and around the walls, of course.

The booster beeped out a fail tone and Rikku groaned, plopping herself down again. Of all ways to die, buried beneath a mountain of rocks was not one she considered appealing.

With a frustrated sigh, Rikku took a spot beside Shinra. "Hey," she whispered. "We should sneak outside."

Shinra muttered incoherently and stirred. Rikku reached out and shook him. "Hey," she said. "You're not gonna let them take the city, are you? I think I might have an idea that could turn this around."

"Huh?" Shinra managed, cracking his eyes open. Rikku smirked at the way he mumbled and curled up further into himself. He got a lot creepier after the Omega incident, but he was still just a preteen. He looked up at her, blinking against the light of the electric blue lamps caught in his eyes.

"We've got a job to do," she said, poking him. "I assume you don't want to miss out on a trip outside?"

Shinra grumbled, covering his face with his blanket. "Don't care."

"Liar," Rikku said, pulling the blanket back. Shinra protested and tried to yank it back. "I know you've been wanting to contact Bevelle more than me! Come on!"

"I'm just a kid!" he retorted. "Can't you do it without me this once?"

"I _could_ , but I don't _want_ to!"

" _Yevon_ ," Shinra cursed. "You're like my annoying sister!"

Rikku abruptly stood and dropped the blanket. "Good. Then my job is done. Are you coming?"

Shinra waited a moment and frowned. A couple of the other children stirred, but none woke up. "Fine. But only if you don't talk so much."

"I make no promises, little man."

Shinra dropped back against the ground for a moment and let out an exaggerated sigh. "I hate you."

"Are you getting up?"

"… Yes." With not a little reluctance, he hauled himself to his feet and followed Rikku to the door. "But you owe me."

"For helping to save Spira?" Rikku scoffed and led him through the quiet din of the crowded and sleepy lobby. "I don't know about that." Down they went into one of the temple's hidden corridors.

"Spira owes me, then."

Rikku shrugged. "Good luck collecting!"

"Shh!" Shinra looked around them with narrowed eyes. "We don't want to wake the others."

"What others?" Rikku followed his gaze, but found only the abandoned tunnel to accompany them. "I doubt a lot of them are sleeping – they're working away closer to the chamber of the Fayth. It's safer there, you know."

"It's not." Shinra looked ahead of them again. "We're not alone."

"There's like a thousand of us crammed in here," Rikku said. "Of course, we're not alone!"

"No," Shinra said, gesturing to the walls. "I'm referring to the people outside. I can hear them sleeping. They've drifted off, but not for long."

Rikku paused, watching him. Shinra kept staring outward like it was some Bevelle parade, eyes flickering a vibrant blue against the dark.

"Come on." Rikku pushed forward. "We gotta do this."

Shinra followed. They found a small, hidden room in the depths of the defunct Cloister of Trials, tucked into a corner far away from the foyer.

"You know," Rikku said, pulling out her equipment and handing Shinra the parts for a power casket. "I've gotten used to your not having a helmet. It matches you."

Shinra gave her a flat stare as he started connecting his cables and junctions. "What are we making?"

"A beacon of sorts." Rikku connected the main system to a temporary battery. "I couldn't get a radar or scanner to work, so I guess our only option is to send out a digital flare and hope someone sees it."

"Someone that's not the rebellion, you mean."

Rikku rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that was kind of unsaid. I assumed you were too smart for me to so condescend."

"Thank you for your consideration." Shinra snapped two large power cables together. "It's good to know that you don't put me on the same level as all these other people."

Rikku sighed and rested her tools for a moment.

Shinra paused and gave her a strange look. "What's wrong?"

"Supplies are running low," Rikku murmured as she got back to tweaking the cable system. "I doubt we'll be able to stay in here much longer."

"Oh." Shinra looked intent for a moment, confusion in his eyes. "Well, maybe if you didn't eat so much, we wouldn't go through them so fast."

"I don't eat that much!" Rikku protested. "Jerk!

" _Cyht cmaaban_."

"Watch your mouth! Do you have the casket done?"

Shinra shook his head. "It's not fitting together as well as I would have expected for something of its caliber. Wasn't this a survivor from Home?"

"I thought so. But maybe it's another deceptive leftover from Bevelle's cheapo stashes."

Shinra dropped the driver in his hand with a frustrated sigh. "We've got nothing but scraps. How are we supposed to get a signal out with this?"

They sat in silence for a moment, with Shinra staring at the scanner and Rikku fiddling with a wire.

"What do you think will happen if it fails to work?" Rikku asked.

"If we can't get out? We die. Duh."

Rikku groaned and fell back against the rail behind her. " _How,_ though?" she asked. "Would the insurgents break in first and stab us all? Would we lie, gasping for breath, lungs filled with our own blood? Would we choke on our vomit? Suffocate from lack of airflow into the temple?"

"Probably insurgents. Though, I doubt they'll kill us all immediately. The fact that they've hurt as many people as they have implies a certain disregard for human resources, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll resort to unwarranted murder."

"Right. Because the rebellion will be so civilized."

"They weren't killing people when we barred ourselves up. Just kidnapping them."

"For unknown purposes, though. Probably brutal ones."

"Probably."

"No, I mean that they should have a reason for this. They want supplies, right? Or something?"

"Probably."

Rikku swung her leg back and forth. "Wonder if we can appeal to their greed?"

"They've convinced themselves to resort to whatever means necessary to get those supplies, so as long as we don't resist, they'll take us alive."

Rikku hesitated. "What if I don't _actually_ want to give them what they want?"

"You don't have to." Shinra picked up the driver again and got back to work on the scanner, though as far as Rikku could tell, he was repeating what he tried before. "You gotta let them _think_ you're helping them."

"Ha! Yeah. Then watch their faces when their rooms blow up. I'd pay good money to do that."

"Uh huh."

The went quiet for a moment and Rikku could make out the distant hum of the temple's electric charge. At length, she asked, "What do you want me to do if you die?"

"Back to that again?" Shinra shrugged. "I'll be dead. Not much to do about it."

" _Nothing_?" Rikku leapt from the ledge and took a seat beside him. "Boring! What if I told everyone it was part of your plan? Or maybe 'see you later, suckers!'"

A loud crack sounded in the air, interrupting their conversation. Rikku jumped to her feet, heart pounding, and Shinra joined her. Explosions sounded in the distance – Hana's traps.

"They've broken through," Shinra breathed.

"Yeah, as if we ever doubted _that_ would happen." Rikku ignored Shinra's offended look.

Aril's voice echoed over from the entrance, speaking in heavily-accented Al Bhed and offering terms of compromise. It cut off with a gunshot.

"So much for peaceful solutions," Rikku whispered, grabbing Shinra's arm. "Time to go."

Shinra didn't resist as she pulled him from the ground and glanced about them. "Where was that exit that you mentioned?" she asked.

"It was hypothetical. I assumed we would be drilling our way out."

Rikku hesitated. The front was blocked. They could find some drill machines, but that would generate a lot of noise and alert the attackers to their position. "We need a distraction," Rikku said. "Got some flash grenades?"

"You're asking me?"

"I used all mine!"

"During the invasion? You were there for, what, five minutes?"

"Does that matter? I'm out!"

"Wait." Shinra moved her grip to his hand. "Did you hear that?"

Rikku froze, tightening her grip on Shinra's hand. He winced, and she sucked in a breath. Waited for the murmuring above them to quiet, heard the boots of the people above them pounding the ground and looking for secret passages.

Not so dumb after all, these thugs.

"Not good," she squeaked. "Any ideas?"

Shinra pried her fingers off his arm. "They want to round up all us Al Bhed, right?"

"No, I don't think they – wait. Do they?"

"Given some of their habits, yes. From what I gather, they're more reluctant to hurt those obviously belonging to the machine sect. Which means they need resources."

"Great," Rikku said. " _That's_ flattering, calling us 'resources.'"

"I already talked about this." Shinra gave her an intense look. "So, let's make ourselves useful."

"Wait, _what_?"

"It's my specialty. Can you blame me for finding a new way to survive?"

Rikku groaned as Shinra promptly kicked their scanner, causing it to go crashing loudly across the floor. The people above them stopped and moments later a drill began chiseling into the stone.

"Trust me," Shinra said. "This is how I got onto the _Celsius_."

"Okay." Rikku took a few steps back. "But you owe me for this."

"What was it you said about collecting?"

"Shut up!"

Rock blasted about them as the drill cleared the surface and Rikku gave Shinra one last look of desperation before puffing out her chest and striding toward the newly-created hole. "Hey, you twerps! We're down here!"

A handful of ragtag and crudely-dressed henchmen dropped into the room with them and Rikku couldn't help an exasperated look toward the door across from them.

"Get them!"

"Wait, wait!" Shinra cried out, placing himself between Rikku and them. "You'll want to use us!"

"What for?" demanded one.

Rikku resisted the urge to shove Shinra behind her again. "We're the smartest ones in this city." She placed a hand on her hip and gestured toward the half-complete beacon that left cables and parts scattered across the room. "That's a full and complete communication device that we assembled with nothing but scraps."

"Doesn't look like much," muttered one.

"It wouldn't," Shinra said, "to an idiot."

"Fine." What had to be the leader gestured. "Tie them up and take them to headquarters."

Then Shinra _lashed out_.

Purple energy writhed about him and blasted out the immediate goons in a matter of seconds – they had no idea what was coming.

Rikku leapt out of the way as Shinra shot energy up through the freshly-made hole and caused a myriad of shocked screams. Terror filled the space above them and Rikku thought she saw Shinra twitch a smile – no, a _grin_ – that immediately preceded a sickly-green color taking over.

And then a shot sounded.

Rikku shrieked as Shinra crumpled to the ground. She didn't have any good flash grenades, but she did have her reserves.

Rikku tossed a bomb at the invaders and rushed to Shinra's side as it went off. The room shook with the force of the explosion and debris rained about them. She shook him. "Kid! Hey, kid!"

Shouts erupted about her and something pricked her shoulder.

Rikku looked to see a dart sticking through her clothes. "Oi-!"

She tossed a grenade above her that blew the entrance hole wide open and scattered small flashers about them that filled the room with the smell of burning nitrate before popping and setting off more screams of alarm and anger.

She struggled to stand – whatever they had in there acted _quick_. Shinra's body took on a vibrant, blue glow and blood evaporated from a spot near his chest.

Forcing herself to her knees, Rikku lobbed one last frag grenade before two of the rebels took her by the shoulders.

The grenade _boomed_ and Rikku registered rock nicking her arms before the rebels dropped beside her and all strength fled.


	14. Chapter 14

Tidus peeked out from behind the line of shrubbery he chose as his vantage point. Armed with nothing but a few of Rikku's gadgets, he wondered how Lulu managed to convince him into this. Over sphere, no less.

The gadgets were kinda cool, though they made him miss Zanarkand. What Spirans saw as high-tech communication devices and futuristic technology, he saw as simple toys. He had a simple CommSphere attached to his wrist, and his trusty hoverboard hidden under his jacket, and while the rest of this world would consider that a luxury, they didn't grow up with much cooler stuff. Like floating cars.

He skirted Djose easily enough by using the rocky wilderness about it, but he found himself stuck in Mi'ihen for ages now, watching the patterns made by the patrols. The swampy terrain made for much harder travel, and these guys knew it.

With his thin disguise formed of a cap and long jacket, Tidus didn't know these people well enough to risk the ploy of asking to work for them. They would probably see through him faster than a coyote could pounce a pigeon.

Tidus frowned. Walking straight through these guys would be difficult, but he didn't exactly have a lot of other options. He wasn't going to waste another day figuring out stuff he already knew.

He slipped out from his hiding place and discarded the hat. The clothes underneath the jacket left him out of his element, common as they were, but it would encourage the people watching to ignore him.

The sun fell close to the horizon before he met his first patrol. They barely glanced at him as they walked along, chatting amiably about food.

Tidus let out a breath once they passed beyond earshot, resisting the urge to break into a run. Why should he be so scared? Would they grab any person on the road and torture them for information? Nah, that was nonsense.

The scenery passed slowly. Tidus wished he had a chocobo but riding one of those _would_ get attention. It was normal for people to walk, even for long distances like this.

Another patrol approached, and this time they hushed as they approached Tidus. "Hey," one of them asked, a man. He was accompanied by a woman and they were both dressed haphazardly, as per the fashion in Spira. For all the resources this rebellion flaunted, apparently, uniforms weren't part of them. "Do I know you?" the man asked.

Tidus frowned. "I don't think we've met," he said with a shrug. "Perhaps I've got one of those-"

"No," the girl said. "You're that Blitzball player!"

If they didn't connect him to Yuna-

"The High Summoner's betrothed!" the man said. "You've got the exact same face!"

Tidus laughed nervously and scratched at his scalp. "I think you've got the wrong guy, but I'm flattered, really!"

"Ah," the guy said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "I would be so glad for the chance to have his autograph! Can you imagine it, Ai? Meeting him right here?"

Tidus glanced at the girl, and she narrowed her eyes at him. He itched to make a run for it on his hoverboard, but he grit his teeth and remained in place. He could do this. "I mean," he said, "I could give you my autograph, anyway. It may not be worth as much, but what are autographs, anyway?"

"He's got a point," the girl said. "It's a waste of money."

"A-! I can't believe my ears! Are you calling a personal greeting from Tidus to be a waste of money?"

Tidus kept smiling. It was hard to tell how genuine they really were – that girl kept looking around, as if-

His smile vanished. "Thanks," he said quickly, cutting off the man as he described some move Tidus made in his first tournament in Spira. "But I gotta go." He turned to leave, but the girl grabbed his shoulder.

She leaned in. "We're taking you in."

Tidus pointedly turned to her and gave his best smile that got him plastered on the NewsSpheres back in Zanarkand. "Not today, thanks."

With that, he pushed her to the side and slipped out the hoverboard. It sprang to life, wings flipping to the side and exhaust glowing with gathering energy. Tidus flipped the footholds onto his shoes and it jolted with the recognition of his added weight.

"Hey!" the man shouted in alarm. "Where are you going?!"

Tidus didn't respond, instead pushed the board into motion and shot toward the horizon. He lifted his wrist to his face, narrowly dodging a rock outcropping. Yevon, it'd been so long since he flew one of these, and he could swear its controls were in the wrong place. "Lulu!"

The device on his wrist crackled, and Lulu's voice said, "Report."

"Just alerted them to my position. Should be out of their range in-"

"You _what_?"

"They were waiting for me," Tidus half-lied. "Left some… traps. Of a sort."

Lulu shook her head. "Unbelievable."

"But I'm fine. At the rate this thing is going, I'll easily beat them to Luca. Might even-"

Tidus cut off. Chuami appeared on the road, gripping her sword in one hand. Her posture read, "a little bit bloodthirsty."

"What's wrong?" Lulu asked.

"Catch you later." Tidus hit the off button. He couldn't ride this thing on the grass if he didn't want to catch it on fire and burn the whole highroad to the ground, which meant either confronting Chuami or hitting her head-on.

Tidus didn't feel like killing anyone today. He opted for mere confrontation.

Chuami dismissed her helper, Palm, and took position in Tidus' path. She steered clear enough of the land mine the rebellion set not far from her position to hopefully not get caught in its blast if Tidus hit it.

His silhouette appeared, blasting toward Chuami's position. She stood her ground, hands growing a touch sweaty. What was that _thing_ he was on? It looked like a slab of metal, and yet it flew faster than a chocobo could run. It spit out a trail of dust that flowed with the breeze, leaving a smokescreen in Tidus' wake.

Chuami stepped forward, deliberately placing herself between a clump of trees and a boulder. If he was going to swerve around her, he would have to veer early and show her what he was doing.

She swallowed as he approached. It was a gamble, but she knew enough about Tidus and his history to know that he wasn't one to hurt without care. He wouldn't run her over. Probably, he would swerve-

Tidus hopped from his device, feet skidding in the dirt road.

"So," he said, grabbing the device with a grace that spoke of lots of practice with this kind of thing. "You're with them now, huh?"

Chuami remained silent. She never told the Council anything but assumed they would figure it out on their own. Perhaps they were dumber than she gave them credit for.

"I always knew you were hardheaded," Tidus continued, coming closer. "But I never took you for an idiot."

Chuami scowled. "And I never took you for a traitor."

"Traitor?" That made Tidus stop for a moment. "How does defending Spira brand me as a traitor?"

"Defending Spira doesn't. What you're doing is hurting it."

"And you get to choose the difference?"

"No." Chuami slid one foot to the side, readying stance. "It looks like I'm one of the few who's willing to _see_ that difference. You're all lying to yourselves, trying to reason away your complacency with justice!"

Tidus paused in his sauntering. "Since when did you know about justice?"

Blood on her fingers, dying whispers in her ears. Chuami screamed, a primal rage flaring to life within her. Tidus startled when she charged, one foot sliding out behind him. Chuami spun her sword and the hilt bit into her palm and wrist. The whole reason she learned to use the sword, the reason she became Kurgum's guardian-

"He KILLED HER!" Chuami yelled as Tidus yanked his sword out. Their blades sang together and Chuami whipped back around at him. "My MOTHER! She believed in Yevon, followed Him even after all had given up!"

Tidus stepped expertly around her blows. Chuami was no match for him.

She wasn't taking him back to base.

She stepped into a spin and rammed her sword against his. "And STILL you DEFEND HIM!"

Tidus blocked another hit, stepping back. "We're not _defending_ Yevon!"

Chuami paused, sweating. The two circled each other. Tidus looked unfazed. "You don't publicly endorse him," Chuami hissed, "But you may as well! You let it live on, doing nothing for all the pain it caused!"

"Okay," Tidus said, waving a hand. "One, you can't blame Sin on people like Yuna! Two, I'm pretty sure they're doing _lots_ to make up for it!"

Blind idiot. Granted, she couldn't expect much different from Yuna's _boyfriend_.

"Not that this isn't interesting," Tidus said, "but I've got things to do. Could we maybe hurry this along, skip to the part where you grudgingly agree with some of what I say and then reluctantly let me through?"

He wouldn't kill her. As dumb as Tidus could be, he wasn't the kind to hurt others if possible. Perhaps, if she could just-

A bomb exploded nearby, causing smoke and flying dirt to flood the immediate vicinity. Chuami cursed as it flooded her eyes and nostrils.

"You have _help_?" she shouted in disbelief, squinting her eyes against the pain.

She heard his jet roar to life as he replied, "I assumed it was yours!"

The board soared past her – Chuami felt dirt spray her legs. Of all the nonsensical, irritating, downright _stupid_ things that could have happened-

"Hey." Palm appeared again and interrupted the moment. The smoke died quickly and Chuami blinked, eyes watering. "What do we do now?"

Chuami growled in frustration. " _You_ recovered quickly."

"I was farther away from the blast. It was a couple of feet from you. Looks like he got pretty far."

"Yes," she said curtly. "He did, didn't he? How did he know about _the landmine_?"

"I don't think he did. Are you going to keep trying to catch him?"

"Maybe. Depends on what my orders are after this." Chuami threw one last glare after Tidus before starting back. "Where did you say you're from again, Palm?"

The man shrugged. "I've moved around a lot. There's not exactly one place I can call home."

A story not uncommon to Chuami, especially in the resistance. It tended to attract those who had suffered more than others at Sin's hand. Hence why people like Tidus, who never had to lose someone close to him, would go so far as to try to stop them. The Chancellor, too, by what Chuami knew, was unfamiliar with loss, as he grew up in one of the only places in the world that Sin had a habit of avoiding.

"Let's get going," Chuami said, returning to the road. "It's going to be a long evening once I report this, and that's before Leblanc knows we lost one of our traps."

* * *

Their captors took them to a large and muggy room that held cargo and food sacks. Outside, he could make out the faint chirping of birds and trilling insects. Given the room wasn't completely barren, they must not have realized they had the smartest kid on the planet in their custody. Of course, taking them in in the first place was a pretty stupid mistake. One that they would soon pay for dearly.

Sitting against the hard floor, Shinra's eyes adjusted to the dark. He didn't like killing. But he also didn't have much say in the matter when his Darkness took over.

Shinra took a deep breath and shook that thought aside. He had bigger things to worry about now, like getting Rikku out of here. If he didn't do that, then both Gippal and Cid would come for him eventually and he liked them too much to let that happen.

The dark glowed as Shinra's eyes adjusted. Instead of the black void most humans would see, Shinra saw a pale purple light that illuminated most surfaces. He heard Rikku's quiet and rhythmic breaths, but he couldn't see her form. Whatever they got hit with must have digested faster in Shinra.

In the heat, he felt some agitation crawl up at the sight. They showed themselves to be smarter than average, given the beacon they got themselves caught with, and yet the rebels still drugged them, shoved sacks over their faces, and discarded them in what looked like a makeshift prison cell.

Well. That was _after_ Omega sprung to life and killed some of them. Technically.

He felt below his heart-area and felt the imperfection of a scar there. Omega diverted her energy to heal him instead of hurting everyone else. Only now, she felt almost distant from him. Omega's indistinct, snake-like whispers hinted at a piece of her power, one that laid somewhere nearby. Something here that tugged at her. He glanced about them but found no one.

Shinra swiped at his forehead, clearing away sweat from the sides of his face while black mist curled protectively around his person. The vapor itself was blessedly chill, but not what he needed right now. He focused on his need to move and the mist evaporated.

The room lit up as Shinra's eyes got used to the dark and he glanced to Rikku, who kept snoring peacefully.

It was smaller than it looked when he was sitting. The ceiling only a few inches above his head. That might make things a little more difficult, since there wasn't as much room to separate himself from potential targets. Shinra hoped it wouldn't come to that.

The room was quiet, but not silent. Beside the life outside, Shinra heard voices ahead along with a subtle shuffling. They didn't want to wake their hostages, Shinra supposed. As if keeping these hostages asleep would make their jobs any easier.

"Wait," one of them said and a silhouette appeared in the doorway. There wasn't any other way out of the room, and Shinra needed to get a feel for their surroundings. He kept still as a couple of henchmen entered the room.

"Fast as pyreflies, this one is," one of them said. His friend gawked at Shinra. It would be surprising to see something that knocked out Rikku for hours die out in Shinra after… however long it was that he was asleep. Kids were supposed to stay out longer than adults, after all.

He swallowed as the mist coiled around him. He didn't want to kill anyone, not today.

"Get the boss," one of them said. "Looks like their questioning is gonna get moved up."

"Don't do that," Shinra blurted.

"Huh?" The first one gave him a baffled look and stalked toward him. "And why not, kid?" The guy jabbed Shinra in the cheek with his gun and the mist _lurched_.

Shinra could only watch, heart stuttering, as tentacles of blackness appeared out of nowhere and lashed out. So much for getting out stealthily.

The men cried out.

"Rikku," Shinra said as the mist ripped through the guards' bodies. Footsteps pounded down the hallways.

Omega tore through more people and Shinra rushed to Rikku's side. He tried to lift her onto his shoulders, but she was a touch too heavy for him, so instead he pulled off what remained of his suit and laid it under her to use as a makeshift sled.

He didn't get far before the butt of someone's gun slammed him in the shoulder and pain flooded him.

The mist withdrew back into Shinra to focus on healing while the guards tore him away from Rikku and dragged him off to the side.

"What happened?" someone demanded. " _Yevon above!_ "

Shinra fought back, but they were all so much bigger and stronger than him. Hard iron clamped around his wrists and something slammed into his stomach. He curled in on himself as pain throbbed in his shoulder.

"What is that?" came one calmer voice. "Those lights in his skin?"

"No idea."

"He's dangerous. We should find a better cell for him."

The throbbing dissipated for a moment before Shinra's shoulder reset itself and he cried out at the sudden pain from the movement.

"I didn't touch him-!"

Shinra threw himself against the wall. "Don't," he bit out. "Don't come any closer!"

Someone raised their hand, but the calm-voiced person held them back. "Leave him alone. This is one dragon we'd best not disturb, it seems."

"But he'll need a better prison."

"Aye." One of them reached out an arm and Shinra recoiled. "Come with us, young one."

" _Hu_!" Shinra scrambled to get away. " _Cdyo yfyo_!"

"Leave me with him." The calm one, a girl about Rikku's age and wearing a white dress, chased the others out despite loud resistance. "He needs space, you idiots! Go!"

Shinra swallowed hard and crawled a few steps backward before she turned her attention back to him. "We need someone like you," she said, voice commanding. "I don't know what it is you did back there, but that's not something we can afford to waste!"

Shinra looked to the smoking bodies near the door and licked his dry lips. "You don't know what you're talking about, lady."

"I do." The girl leaned down to his level and offered a hand. "Can you imagine yourself charging Bevelle's gates? Do you want to see its glistening streets?"

"I already have." Shinra pulled himself to his feet despite the iron binding his wrists. "It's not all it's cracked up to be."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"Get away from me." Shinra shoved past her and kneeled beside Rikku. Omega, sensing what he wanted to do, split the clasp binding his hands down the middle. The iron fell to the ground in two chunks.

"Who's that?" the girl asked.

Shinra didn't tell her. Instead, he got back to dragging Rikku's body across the floor. He didn't know how he would get out of here with her in tow, but he had to try.

"Wait." The girl knelt beside him. "Let me help."

She strained only a little beneath Rikku's weight. "I'll take you somewhere nicer." She made for the door. "Follow me."

* * *

Baralai held back a yawn as he slid his last book into its place on the shelves. He would regret his choice to read this late, come morning, but for now he thought only of retiring to the comfort of sleep. He'd mostly recovered from Yuna's attack, which came as no small relief. Some of these meetings were hard enough to survive, even without the help of physical distress.

The night was calm and quiet, with nary a sound to disturb his final routine before bed. He washed up, laid out his robes to let them air out, then slipped into his sleeping clothes. The night grew colder, though he barely noticed with his usual preoccupying thoughts.

Enough time passed since the takeover at Djose, he had to assume the temple was since sieged and taken over. Their people would either be converted to soldiers or held for ransom, work, or other such means. Leblanc made only a few minor appearances on Sphere since, yet the damage was done and seemed to spread by the day. Many of his subordinates looked at him differently, and that wasn't changing.

Baralai sighed, stopping by a window to gaze out across Bevelle. The moon showed brilliantly white in the dark sky, illuminating the city in its soft glow. Despite the yellow-ish fog hugging most buildings, Baralai's room sat high enough that it didn't impede his view.

He flicked off the light to allow the moon to shine brighter. The window was open, though he could have sworn that he'd closed it before leaving this morning. That would explain why it was colder, but…

He _knew_ he closed that window.

Baralai pulled out his staff and aligned it along his arm before stepping lightly around the corner to see the rest of the windows closed. It was dark, but his eyes adjusted.

Moonlight illuminated the room in blue-white shapes. Nothing in the room appeared disturbed, though he couldn't help a faint tingling in the back of his neck. It was a familiar sensation, one he felt many a time before an ambush, when he sensed the eyes of someone or something on him.

A foot fell behind him.

Baralai reacted instinctively, whipping around and lashing his staff toward the noise. A grunt sounded in the dark as the tip of Baralai's staff connected with something hard. A silhouette twisted near him.

Baralai twirled the staff in his hand and ducked out of the way as something swung in the air above him.

Putting some distance between himself and the intruder, Baralai spun the staff in his hands, releasing a scourge whip that screamed against the metal of the other person's weapon.

The intruder paused a few feet away as the whip hissed back into its spot inside Baralai's staff.

They both stood, studying each other. Baralai could make out the glint of steel in the intruder's hands, though their baggy clothing did well to mask their silhouette and conceal any telling traits.

"Guards!" Baralai shouted, keeping focused.

He couldn't taste any mana in the air, which meant that his opponent wasn't a mage. He nodded to himself, spinning his staff again.

The whip appeared, striking around the intruder's legs. The guest expected it this time, though, and immediately leaped out of the way.

Surprisingly, they didn't retaliate. The intruder only slipped more toward Baralai's dark side of the room.

"Who are you?" he said, keeping out of the intruder's range.

They remained silent.

"I prefer not to hurt you. Perhaps if we talked for a bit, first?"

The intruder threw something, and Baralai reacted by instinct. He whipped his staff up and around, causing a clatter when a small blade collided with it and deflected away.

Only for another one to embed itself into his shoulder.

He didn't feel pain, but his old instincts kicked in. He feinted.

Moving as if to drop and roll, Baralai watched the guy move in before Baralai then took the chance to twist the other way and slam his knee into the guy's stomach.

The intruder collapsed, gasping, and Baralai then promptly struck their shin for good measure. The force of the impact caused a crunching sound and the intruder made a strangled noise as they writhed on the floor.

Baralai moved his attention to his stab wound. He hissed as he slowly pulled the blade from his shoulder. Paine's deadpan voice rang in his head, _If you have to pull it,_ rip _it._

He paused, feeling wet blood seep between his fingers. Images of his time in the Squad came to mind, of the cave and the cleanup and how it all ended with a bullet in his back.

This was no different.

He yanked out the blade and promptly dropped to his knees at the explosion of pain. Shock took over, causing the edges of his vision to pulse black. His eyes itched, body begging for relief.

With a cry, he slammed his palm into his shoulder, words moving his lips in whispered prayer before breaking into a cure that encompassed the wound. It was an excruciating sensation, the nerves being forced back together and recreating the skin that protected them. It tingled through his body in sharp pricks and points and then finally eased into a maddening tickle.

When all that was left was the sensitivity, Baralai took his staff back into his hands and used it as leverage to pull himself to his feet.

Baralai gave the other body another glance – the man barely breathed – and knelt beside him with a prayer. The accursed assassin was going straight to a high-security prison, but he could at least allow him a second chance.

Baralai ran his fingers over him just in case, searching for anything that could constitute as another weapon of some kind. And froze when he found a woman's body.

He shook himself free of the surprise. "Someone sent you. Who?"

"Didn't…" The woman choked. "Bring name… for a reason." Blood dripped from a cut in her face, staining Baralai's sleeve. He couldn't see the cut itself beyond the mask covering all but her mouth. "You've made enemies, Chancellor. Side with the enemy, and you… take on their debts."

Baralai grabbed the woman's collar. "Do you belong with the rebellion? Did Leblanc send you?"

"Leblanc?" She chuckled and coughed again. "I suppose I've said too much. But I'm not going to last much longer anyway."

Baralai clenched his teeth. "Eternal Life-Giver of the Seas," he began, fingers hovering over the worst of the woman's wounds. He had only to give a small prayer to stabilize her. "Grant me this desire."

"Is it worth it, mage?" the assassin muttered. "Are you sure?"

"Be quiet or I'll make it worse."

The assassin's lips quirked upward in a not-quite-smile.

"In reward for my diligence," Baralai continued, "allow me a small portion of thine endless power."

The prayer worked, and white magic flooded the black-clad woman's systems. Once the blood stopped, Baralai grabbed her collar again and yanked her up.

"Now," he said, "it's time for you to give me some answers."

"Tough luck." She grinned weakly. "You're not getting any."

Baralai could feel the fatigue catching up with him and caught a glimpse of dark blood in the moonlight. "Maybe not all of them," Baralai corrected her. He already knew more now than he did an hour ago. "Are you involved with the Carmine Order?"

She pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling.

"Do the words, 'He has come as her to end your suffering,' ring a bell?"

Nothing.

"You will tell me everything you know," Baralai said, charging a spell in his hand. "And I won't make you wish you weren't born."

The woman closed her eyes. "Let me have it, then."

Baralai ground his teeth. "Don't make me."

"Why not?" She looked up at him with mocking eyes. "Never touched a woman before?"

"In more ways than you would know." He dragged the fallen dagger from the floor, letting the cure in his hands disperse as the blade scraped against the wood. "Please. Tell me. 'He has come as her to end your suffering.' Is this a fulfillment of that? Or are you here from the rebellion?"

A flash of fear in her eyes at the sight of the glinting dagger. She swallowed. And kept silent.

"Perhaps sent by a wealthy man thirsty for the blood of someone that passed a controversial law? Someone with a vendetta against anyone related to Seymour?"

Her voice shook. "I won't talk."

Baralai closed his eyes against ghostly screams and the thought of blood-splattered sand. And struck the blunt end of the dagger against her toes.


	15. Chapter 15

Tidus zipped along the Moonflow river, hoverboard barely touching the surface as it sprayed water behind him in a wide pattern.

Things were going well. He'd attracted a lot of attention, but he was never much of a fan of the stealthy path, anyway. If he made a show on his way back to Bevelle, then so be it.

Something sputtered in the hoverboard, and it swerved right. Tidus frowned, tapping it a couple of times with his foot to regain control. He was almost across the river now. Only another hundred yards or so to go.

The board smoothed out and his comm beeped. Wakka's face appeared. "Hey, man! How's it going?"

Tidus shrugged and steered around a shoopuf full of passengers. They all stood and cheered at the sight of him. "So far so good," Tidus said. "No one's tried to kill me since Mi'ihen."

"That's good news, ya?"

"Hey," Tidus said as the hoverboard sputtered again. "I met Chuami. Forgot to tell you."

"The councilwoman?"

Tidus nodded. "She attacked me, said that her bosses want me taken in."

"I knew it! She was kind of a jerk, you know?"

"Yeah,'" Tidus said, "she's got some issues. If she comes to Besaid, I recommend rallying the forces. As it is, I'm going to have to tell Yuna that any one of the councilmen could be a double-agent."

"She in danger?"

He hoped not. "I don't know how strong a presence they have in Bevelle, but I'll let you know when I get there."

"Alright. Keep us updated, ya?"

Tidus nodded and clicked off the comm as the hoverboard sputtered again. Tidus cursed, and tried to kick it back into shape.

It gave out. He flipped and crashed right into the river.

Cursing silently, he quickly righted himself and caught the hoverboard in one arm. Not that it would do him any good at this point – he suspected Rikku didn't have the chance to waterproof it before giving it to Tidus.

The shore was a few yards away. Tidus swam toward it and within minutes touched down on soft sand. His feet sank into it like anchors from a ship and it took some effort to trudge up onto the dry section where the sand didn't try to eat his shoes from right off his feet.

Tidus messed with the board for a bit, trying to force it back into its compact shape. If he could get it back to Bevelle, then surely there would be technicians there that could get it working again.

It wouldn't collapse, so he gave up and hooked it to his bag like that. He was approaching the end of the Moonflow, at least. The longest stretch he had after this was the Thunder Plains, and there weren't enough people in that vicinity to provide much of a threat even if the rebellion stretched out that far.

"What is this place?" Minwu asked, form coalescing. "Why do the dead gather here?"

Tidus jumped. "Would you stop doing that?" he hissed. "You're gonna get me killed."

"Apologies." Minwu went quiet for a moment. "How would you like me to introduce myself before I begin speaking?"

Tidus groaned and resumed his way down the road. "I don't know. Say something and make it the same something every time."

"Like a greeting?" Minwu followed after him, robes flowing to an unseen wind.

"Yeah," Tidus said. "That's very normal. Doesn't make me any less crazy, but that works."

"I'm not a figment of your imagination."

Tidus shook his head. "As you've repeated several times."

"My question remains." Minwu gestured toward to the river. "Why do the dead gather in such an ordinary place?"

Tidus interlaced his hands behind his head. "Beats me. Pyreflies have always liked this place, and lately ghosts have joined them. No one knows why."

Minwu narrowed his eyes. "Even for a world as familiar with the dead as yours, that's an uncommon phenomenon."

"Familiar with the dead?" Tidus paused as they came upon gates to Guadosalam. He skirted around the town before, but doing that again without the hoverboard would be difficult thanks to all the water surrounding it. "What does that mean?"

Minwu shook his head. "Spira is one of many worlds that is fueled by a given lifeforce, added to by death in one great cycle of rebirth. Sin's terror has caused so many deaths, however, that it is the first time I've seen that lifeforce overflow into the living surface. In addition to that, it appears there's been some… interference from our side."

"Interference?"

"Cosmic travelers." Minwu all but groaned the word. "Wanderers unconnected to the proper gates and using other, less sophisticated means to get from planet to planet, and from time to time. The Farplane is one of those means."

Tidus whistled and walked through the gates to Guadosalam, with quiet forest life to greet him in the form of chirping insects and birds. "You think that's been contributing to all the ghosts popping up?"

"Perhaps."

For a city named after the Guado, Tidus found it pretty empty of them. Empty of anyone, really. He'd seen little of the Guado after the debacle a few years ago, but Yuna assured him they found another life in the woods. He hoped she was right.

"A strange place," whispered Minwu. "A village built into the trees?"

Tidus noted some new establishments that looked a little more… modern than the rest. Despite the advancements, though, the place was quiet. All the shops had "closed" signs and only a handful of pedestrians could be seen wandering the streets. "This isn't the way it started."

He paused at the sight of a blue-haired and purple-clothed man. That was a common sight back in Zanarkand, but here it… wasn't.

"Something caught your eye?" asked Minwu. He didn't seem to think of the man as strange.

Tidus shook his head and continued on his way before he could be caught staring. "Nothing. It's nothing."

They approached the road toward the Thunder Plains and Tidus sighed. Without his hoverboard, this was going to be a long walk.

* * *

Dark mist clung to the crumbling buildings of Baaj and hid up the blackness of the lake. He trailed his fingers through the warm water, watching the ripples that floated out behind them. He got back to his feet and moved slowly, walking and trudging about the river that laced around Baaj's broken islands and sunken city.

He passed by a partially-submerged building, only one half of which remained above the surface. Snow scrambled to the edge to get a better look.

It was at least as big as the temple in Besaid, yet with none of the distinctive traits of a Yevon establishment. A large dome roof sat atop the winged structure, the shingles of which must have long ago fallen from their place as they now exposed much of the wooden skeleton underneath. Despite the size, getting trapped in there would be unfortunate for all the debris and sharp stuff.

Birds flocked to the rim of the building, their cries echoing through the dead air and Snow passed by. Now he approached the surviving tip of a sunken tower. The surface of it caught the moon's light, showing a slimy texture.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Snow whistled a tune to himself. The landscape was so dreary, he couldn't help a sense of wariness. He could swear he'd been somewhere like this before, only more… void-ish.

He walked down a narrow alley between buildings. The moon's light didn't reach in here, so he was left to wander in the dark for a moment before the alley opened up into another river and the soft glow of the stars and moon shone down to reveal a small space of open, broken ground. The bank was littered with scraps of twisted metal and fallen stones.

Using one hand, Snow channeled blizzaga. The ray of frost hit the water, freezing the surface to create a white path that sparkled in the dim light.

Once Snow was satisfied that he had a solid way to cross, he lit up a small fire in his other hand to light the way.

As he moved, he looked for something he could use as a clue. He couldn't remember how he knew the gates from before, but he felt like they should have something obvious to guide him to them.

Snow stopped when he heard a faint growling behind one of the slabs of stone.

A large, feral beast stepped out from its shadow – its skin sheened an inky black with streaks of green and blue running from its haunches to its shoulders. It growled at him like a dog but had no eyes to indicate sight. Spikes stuck out from its head and ran along its back, ending at the tip of a blocky tail.

Snow tensed before it charged him and rammed its shoulder into his stomach, sending him flying backward.

He twisted, tossing blizzard spells to both sides and embedding icicles into its chest. As it crashed into the ground, more like it approached from behind a nearby wall.

One growled and lunged toward him, snapping its teeth.

Snow rushed forward and thrashed it in the chest. His fist connected with something softer than bone and threw the thing back several yards.

A handful more scrambled around the corner of a ruined wall, howling and screeching with unnatural voices.

Snow didn't see any of the telling mist emitting from them that tended to mark fiends. But if they weren't fiends, then what were they?

Snow pulled an icicle lance from the air, causing a whiff of cold to drift his way before he launched it into three of the beasts at once.

They screamed and ice pinned them to the wall behind.

The ground below Snow frosted over as he moved, the energy released from his shots slowly leaking into the air around him and affecting the environment. Lulu would rip him a new one if she found out about his sloppy control.

Bellowing out a war cry, Snow stamped the ground with one boot, digging himself in solidly, and unleashed a torrent of snow and ice out of nowhere. The cold spread to the water around him, freezing over the network of rivers that disconnected the islands.

The remaining creatures chased after him, but most got caught by icicles shooting up from the ground. Snow pulled up chunks of ice and lobbed them at the remainders.

It took a moment for him to realize that even those that were stabbed straight through weren't deterred and managed to dislodge themselves to continue after him.

Snow kept working until small flakes of snow brushed against him and flurried into the ground, caught by the ice in the water and gaps between buildings.

With a blizzard now flurrying around him, Snow threw up a barrier of ice and dashed in the direction that the first monster originally came from. Perhaps if he found their source, he could end it.

He ran on ice, which should have caused him to fall and maybe kill himself, but every step found traction, like the ice reacted to the touch of its creator and formed a path for him to move on without it giving way.

No, that was _definitely_ what happened.

Behind him, a dozen hounds chased after him and the name "gorgonopsid" rang in his head.

Walls and obstacles formed of the ice behind him, knocking the beasts off course and sending them skidding away. Even their wicked claws weren't enough to find footing.

Snow kept running, dodging and twisting around the ruins until he stumbled through a tunnel leading underground that opened back up on a round piece of land. He couldn't hear the scrambling of claws behind him, so he took a moment to catch his breath.

The city turned up nothing, of course. Snow frowned at sight of the place – it was a _lot_ bigger than he expected it to be. The gate could have been anywhere.

He stopped in the middle of a crossroads. Or, the shallow streams that remained of one. He didn't bother freezing this one since it only came up to his ankles.

Scattered brick and stone marked where a couple more buildings used to stand, but there was one remaining pillar here that stood at least twice as tall as he did, and its bricks looked sturdy enough to climb.

So, climb he did.

Snow hauled himself upward, using the gaps left by decay as handholds. It wasn't that much different from the cliffs in Besaid that they used for games and practice sessions.

Once safely atop the structure and its small landing, he straightened to his full height and observed the landscape.

Only the immediate area had much of any surviving remnants. Most of the rest of Baaj sunk further underwater than where he stood, with mere stubs left of the walls and ceilings. Pillars spiked up out of the ocean and some stairs cut off above the surface. More birds flew across the dark sky, their cries haunting the night.

A glowing pedestal of some kind stood alone atop a halfway-submerged archway, its roundish shape standing out amidst all the jagged edges of the ruins.

"Ah ha!" Snow said to himself. "I found you!"

The moment he spoke, the pillar gave way beneath him. With a cry of surprise, he went tumbling to the water.

And hit it with the force of a shoopuf.

Snow sunk underneath for a moment before he emerged again, sputtering.

He sprung for the direction of the light, following what he'd found atop the pillar. The water felt cold and familiar on his skin, and he sped forward as fast as he could, pumping his legs with the might of a war chocobo.

As he moved, some metal around him lit up and the strange shapes sprung to life.

Then he saw it. A gate to the Historia Crux.

And pain erupted in his head.

Snow doubled over, grabbing the jagged edge of a wall. He gripped his temples to assuage the sudden, splitting sensation that took over his mind. A woman's voice echoed through him, " _Protect us all._ "

Save Cocoon.

"I-" Snow cut off as the pain got worsened. He curled in on himself, struggling to speak through the haze clouding his mind. The stinging sensation in his hands barely registered.

Beyond him, rings of shining metal spun and twirled around a massive sphere that flashed in a myriad of colors, the image inside occasionally morphing to show a green-colored sea lapping at a grey-tinted beach.

Snow moved to stand again, but he felt faint. His legs wobbled beneath him, and he barely felt himself hit the ground before the world went dark.

And changed to light.

Images flashed before Snow's eyes, shifting every second to something new. Pink-hair and blue eyes gave way to a short kid with pale skin and wearing bright orange. Chocobos sprinted through the vision, toting long tufts of feathers that trailed down their necks.

And then it stopped and Snow found himself in a large field, broken up by rivers and ponds and closed in by cliff faces. He took a moment to regain his balance and return to his surveillance.

It looked a lot like the Calm Lands, given what he'd heard, and was reminiscent of the dream he had the night before the Councilmen came to visit Yuna.

The sky showed bright blue above him, with few clouds floating lazily across the plains, and the land was surprisingly quiet despite some packs of gorgonopsids chasing each other around and running from the behemoth king that stalked around a nearby rock formation.

 _Archylte Steppe_ , Snow thought. He knew this place. He'd spent so many days in here, travelling with…

"Hey, Snow!" yelled a woman with wild black hair and tribal robes. Her voice was heavily accented, but Snow couldn't say where from. "Get your head out of the clouds and help me with this, will ya?"

Snow wandered over, feeling light-headed. Fang gestured with one hand for him to join her. She kneeled over the bloodied corpse of a gorgonopsid, silken robe stained red. She yanked out the thing's heart. "Took you long enough. Thought you'd never wake up."

"I wasn't sleeping."

"Really?"

"I took a walk."

Fang stood, heart in one hand and spear in the other. "More like a run."

"Only because they changed my name."

"They didn't change mine," said a peach-haired girl. She stood next to Fang, dressed in church robes. "They took away everything I was except my name. But you forgot even that, didn't you? You forgot everything that mattered."

Snow hesitated. He knew they were right. "Who's the girl I keep seeing in my dreams? With the blue eyes?"

Vanille stepped up close and rested a small hand on his shoulder.

 _Serah._

* * *

When he came to himself again, he laid near the gate, its metal rings flying about and emitting foggy light like a lamp during the dead of winter.

The gate.

The source of the monsters.

Snow turned and stood, ready for them to return. If he left through it now, they likely wouldn't chase him through, and no one on this world had the power to kill them.

Clenching his fist, Snow felt the cold radiate down his arm and fill his veins with a steady pulse.

Finally, his magic knew where to pull its power from.

He smelled the stony cold as it emitted from his hand, causing an aura of blue to shine around it.

He missed that light.

The yowling drew closer and Snow shot a bolt of ice straight into the tunnel, causing a blood-curdling shriek. Snow pulled more bolts out and tossed them in, snagging more of the monster and unleashing their horrendous cries into the air.

Several of the twisted and dimension-distorted gorgonopsids broke through and Snow charged his fists with ice before throwing himself at them with a shout.

He tore through most of them before they had a chance to fight back, but one managed to dodge his blow and close the distance, jaw snapping at his face.

Snow bellowed and kicked it away from him, only for a dozen more to slam into him from behind and knock him into the air.

He dropped a blizzaga that hit the ground below him in an explosion of blasted crystal. The creatures all flew on contact, bodies disintegrating.

Snow smacked the ice that glittered against the ground and saved him from plunging into the water again.

The air suddenly felt too cold for him, and the gate unfamiliar. He knew it now so much better than he could have hoped, but it filled him with such dread he didn't want to take a single step closer. He hesitated at the brink of the tiny island, eyes caught by the shifting light and metal that seemed to brighten the night sky.

"I should have known," a woman said.

Snow looked up to see Yuna's friend, the white-haired one wearing all black leather and buckles. She tossed a heart-shaped crystal at him.

He caught it with some difficulty. The sharp points were familiar to his aching and bloodied hands. "Paine." His head wouldn't stop _spinning_. "So good to see you. I found… well, I'm not sure what exactly I found, but this is kind of a-…"

"Don't bother." Paine stood a few hands widths from him and she looked down at him with bored eyes. "I know what it is."

"Great!" Snow forced himself to his feet and stumbled closer, though his body felt inexplicably heavy. "Then you'll help me!"

"Not quite."

Snow blinked before she whipped out her sword and _swung_.

"Hey!" Snow jumped away, but that only landed him in the water again. He slipped on slime and crashed into a heap further away from the gate. Shallow water lapped at his clothes. "What's up with you? Are you feeling alright?"

Paine turned to face the gate. "It's hideous, isn't it?"

"What?"

"The gate." She reached out a hand, but it rejected her with a flash of light. "It's an abomination, created by warped space. I would have smoothed these all out long ago, but…"

"You know them?"

Paine turned to face him again, raising a hand. "I couldn't find it without your help. Thank you, lowly l'Cie. It'll be entertaining to see you flail, even with your Eidolith."

Snow jumped, trying to push forward despite the weight of the water. "Wait! You're not-!"

The gate _exploded_ , releasing a shockwave of light and sound.

"Serah!"

The force of it knocked him back under deep water. He hit several jagged edges of stone before the depths swallowed him.


	16. Chapter 16

Baralai woke to a bright morning. The sky outside was clear. Given the position of the sun, it must have been midmorning.

His servant never came to wake him. The song of a bird lilted its way through the window, as if to do the job itself.

The assassin. One sent by Leblanc herself, to destabilize Bevelle and make it ripe for the taking. One that suffered so intensely, so needlessly. One that now rested in a hospital bed in the other wing of the palace.

How many more would hurt before this conflict would resolve itself?

Baralai reluctantly hauled himself into an upright position and used his feet to find the slippers by his bed. A sharp pain shot through his torso.

Right. They didn't wake him up because they thought he needed time to recover.

He dropped his head, remembering all the time spent in the hospital before he dragged himself to Guadosalam after Nooj's apparent betrayal. Managed to avoid becoming a victim like that since.

He pulled on his dressing robes with a wince and moved to wash up.

Did they tell his friends? He didn't remember informing them after the attack, but he could have sworn he missed a meeting with them, and Gippal wouldn't let him play absent without finding out why.

Thanks to the sensitivity in his shoulder and torso, Baralai moved deliberately and gingerly as he wet his handcloth and washed his face.

A knock sounded at his door, and one of the palace staff called out, "Chancellor?"

"Yes?"

"Sorry to bother you, but we've received word from one of our envoys. They've made it back to Bevelle, but they're missing most of their travel party."

Baralai heaved a sigh and paused in front of his dresser. Alas. The world didn't wait for any man. "Give me a moment. Take it to the inner council and I'll be there shortly."

"Very good, sir!"

The sound of hurried footsteps retreated away from the door and Baralai stood for a bit, trying to find the strength to continue dressing. The birdsong ended and a couple of Bevelle's bluetails flew by the window. His energy felt sapped despite the early hour.

With another sigh, Baralai pulled out his official robes and carefully arranged them over his undershirt and pants.

When he left the room, a gust of wind blew past, sending a torrent of leaves and brush scraping at his window.

He grimaced at the wind's disturbing force and walked through the halls, leaning heavily on his staff to take some of the pressure off his healing leg. He thought it painfully poetic how he would have to deal with something like what he made Kurgum go through. Thankfully for Baralai, though, it wasn't permanent this time.

"Chancellor," one of his secretaries said, coming from the opposite direction. She was one of his more loyal subordinates, but he could swear even she seemed reluctant to talk to him. "Lady Yuna's asked for you."

"I'm coming."

"Not to the council room, though?"

He shook his head. "They're still not over that newscast. I don't need to let them take any of my words right now to the public or they'll twist it to Sin."

The girl flushed and turn back to walk the way she came. Baralai was too slow to keep pace with her.

His leg flared up in pain, but he tried to ignore it. Once he sat down, he could afford enough attention to work in another cure.

He slipped behind a bookshelf hiding a door, which he took into the dark, concealed hallways between walls. Bevelle was full of secret passages, most of them meant to be discreet paths into the machina-ridden underground, but now Baralai used them to avoid the open windows.

He barely made it another ten paces back into the outer hallway before Kurgum came from around the corner. "Chancellor." His voice betrayed his distress. "They're talking again."

Baralai shook his head. "There's nothing we can do to stop them."

"Sir." Kurgum kept pace with Baralai with no difficulty despite Kurgum's limp. "There has to be _something_."

Baralai followed him back out into the grey hallway. "How's Yuna holding up?"

"She's Lady Yuna," Kurgum said simply. "She's frustrated but keeps an air of grace about her that discourages any from questioning her."

"The Council?"

"They insist you rest and not conduct the discussions." Kurgum darted his eyes between Baralai and the floor. "I don't understand their motives, though. They claim it's for your good, but I don't see the connection. Resting won't make decisions easier. Is there a chance they're suspicious of the rumors?"

"It's not just a chance."

Kurgum nodded. "Of course."

They passed by a purple-dressed lady with matching hair that passed by. Baralai rolled his eyes at himself – he'd formed a new Yevon, where all sorts of people could join and participate, but some – like that lady – still got a little too adventurous even for him.

Ha. Purple hair. It was kind of funny when he thought about it.

Eventually, they entered the small meeting room, in which Yuna, Nooj, Gippal, and Tidus all sat, chatting amiably.

Which silenced when Baralai entered. He bit back a curse as his shoulder throbbed.

"Long time, no see," Nooj said. "How are you?"

Kurgum ducked away, and Baralai took slow, deliberate steps toward his chair at the head of the table. "I'm… better."

"What happened?" Tidus asked. "Did you fall down the stairs?"

"Tidus." Yuna took his hand. "Please."

"It's fine," Baralai said. "He should know. All of you should. Just as I should clear up my history with Seymour."

Yuna ducked her eyes and Baralai leaned against the straight back of his chair, forgetting his injuries. "He was a lesser life. I could see it even then, though I could do nothing to stop him. He couldn't see past his own goals and ambitions, and he did whatever it took to get his way. You would do well to mistrust anyone who served him."

"No one mistrusts you, 'Lai." Gippal leaned back. "I mean, we all know you're too big a baby to be the bad guy."

Baralai closed his eyes, unable to shake the feeling that defeat ever-loomed on his horizon. "I'm glad I have your good opinion."

"And your absence?" Nooj asked.

Baralai opened his eyes again to find the empty council desk in front of him. "The work of a sloppy individual. I dealt with them, though, so there's no need to worry about it."

"What can we do?" Kurgum asked. "We can't let Leblanc take over the public opinion."

Nooj adjusted his grip on his cane. "She doesn't control it. No one can do that. She's merely influencing it where it lines up with her interests, which currently reside in watching the Council fall."

"What does she get out of _that_?" Tidus asked. "Don't you all make the world a safer place? Does she think she can take over?"

"She doesn't just think it," Baralai said. "With the force she has at her command now, she could cause a lot of trouble and violence before it blows over."

Nooj leaned over his cane. "It's a simple game of numbers, one that they don't appear capable of playing."

"I want to focus on the first part of Kurgum's question," Yuna said. "What can we do about it?"

Kurgum looked about them. "Can't we beat them now? While they're still growing? Stop them before they get people killed?"

"We still haven't pinpointed the location of their base," Nooj said. "Taking the fight to them isn't an option. For that same reason, we can't send in operatives to extract Leblanc herself."

"Doesn't she have a thing for you?" Gippal asked. "Why don't you lure her out?"

Everyone looked at Nooj. He tightened his mouth into a fine line. "I could try, but I doubt she'll take the bait."

"Unless," Baralai said, "she feels like you're her way out."

"Weaken her first!" Gippal placed his hands behind his head and took on a wistful smile. "Make you that much more appealing if you offer her help when she feels vulnerable."

Yuna chewed on her lip. "I think she'll come no matter how you make it look."

"In the meantime," Nooj said, "what do we do about the rest of the Council? I'm still working with my sect, but they've all but pushed Baralai out."

"I'm talking to them," Yuna said. "I think they'll see reason if I can get a little more time. Gippal, how are your people doing?"

He shrugged. "They could care less. Leblanc should have thought of something else to say when she tried to put me under. In fact, I got some requests for autographs this week."

Baralai allowed a weak smile. "That's better."

"Yeah." Tidus scowled. "I still say we find out where she lives."

"We'll get to that," Yuna said.

"We'd better."

"Your reports!" Kurgum blurted, hastily producing an armful of scrolls from under the desk. "I forgot to give you them earlier."

Baralai held back a sigh as he accepted them and dropped most on the table. "Keep talking. I can go over these as you discuss."

"Of course, we can," Gippal said. "The question is whether you can pay attention to either."

"Don't worry about me." Baralai turned his attention to the words laid out in hastily-written script before him. It was a letter requesting help, attached to what Baralai assumed to be a copy of the response and subsequent report.

"I did have a question-" Kurgum returned to his seat- "regarding the relationship between the religious and the machine sect."

"Oh?" Gippal asked. "You're speaking for yourself? That doesn't happen every day."

Baralai glanced over the notes taken in the report and felt a headache coming on. While he still did paperwork in his recovery, perhaps getting an extended break from such things would help him to recover. He sometimes felt like if he didn't know they existed, they would magically sort themselves out.

A childish hope.

"Hey," Gippal said. "What did I say about paying attention? You look like someone killed your cook."

Tidus scrunched up his face in confusion. "What?"

"Al Bhed saying," Yuna said quietly. "Having a cook was one of the most valuable things to them back in Home, given how scarce food would be."

"Where did you learn that?" Nooj asked.

Gippal shrugged. "She's full of surprises."

"My mother and uncle were Al Bhed," Yuna said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

Tidus gestured. "What about water? They lived in the desert! I thought that would be more valuable?"

Kurgum looked at Baralai. "What is it?"

"We took a hit on the caravan route." Baralai shoved the scrolls back with a sigh. They slipped across the table, a couple falling to the ground. He didn't pick them up. "That's a dozen people missing, not to mention all the supplies lost."

Yuna frowned, picking up a few of the sheets. "They're getting bolder," she said. "Those Macalania camps are hardly Moonflow territory."

"Not much of a rebellion." Nooj gave a wry chuckle. "They're acting more like petty bandits, more focused on taking resources than territory. Either they're sloppy or they're lying about their goals."

"What else would they want?" Kurgum asked. "Why would they try to hide whatever their real intentions are behind a rebellion? What does that tell us?"

"They don't care about attention," Baralai said. "Whatever it is, it doesn't matter that the entire world is now fighting against them."

"Or…" Yuna held out a finger, "maybe that's the point. Maybe they're trying to distract us, like Kurgum said."

"From what, though?" Baralai asked. "We shouldn't abandon the rest of Spira for a wild goose chase."

"Shouldn't we?" Tidus said. "We had people in Djose. _Smart_ people."

"Smart people-" Baralai interlaced his fingers over the desk- "with whom we have no contact."

"Can't we fix that?"

"It's not that easy," Nooj said.

Tidus spread his arms. "But we _can_. Isn't Djose where the rebellion has their strongest hold? Doesn't that mark it as their headquarters? Shouldn't we focus on getting eyes where it matters?"

Baralai hesitated and glanced at Nooj, who pressed a finger to his chin in thought. "He has a point."

"He does," Baralai said. "But we've been coming up empty on most of our other fronts and it would require sending someone to go down almost straight into the rebellion's hands. Is it worth the risk?"

"Let's entertain the thought that it was. We would need someone who can work as both a scout and possibly a diversion. Or perhaps an emissary, depending on if we can get into a proper position for bargaining with these people. Tidus has already made the entire round about through rebel territory, which means that Djose can't be that risky on its own."

"I avoided Djose. But yeah, it's poorly guarded."

Nooj silently leaned over his cane.

Beside him, Kurgum fidgeted. "Sir, you're all famous government officials that have been all over the news."

"Hey," Tidus shot out an accusatory finger, "don't lump us _all_ into the same category."

"Except Tidus," Kurgum said, "of course, who's a world-renowned Blitzball player and former guardian to Lady Yuna. Paine and I are the only ones that won't be instantly recognized."

"And you're in no shape to tread those waters," Baralai said more forcefully than he meant.

Yuna perked up. "Paine, where is she right now?"

Baralai shook his head. "She didn't tell me."

"It happens." Nooj gave a dismissive wave. "Paine prefers to shoot first and ask questions later. She should be back in a couple of days. But Kurgum is right – if we want any hope of the public not catching onto this, we can only really send one of them."

Baralai looked between the two, the pain in his leg returning. "And Kurgum _isn't_ an option."

"Why not send in one of the scouts you said we have?" Tidus asked. "The ones that first found out Djose was taken?"

"That was before their grip tightened on Djose." Nooj said. "We have no way of judging loyalty, and this is more sensitive than we can afford to play half-heartedly."

"Oh."

"But," Nooj said, "even if we can send someone in, we can't bet on a lot of time before the rebellion realizes they've been infiltrated. They could leave within days of us opening communication."

Baralai nodded. "I think I've got something for that."

"What do we do in the meantime?" Yuna asked. "We still have a lot of issues left to deal with."

"I've written up a list." Baralai produced a long scroll. "I've divided the errands and tasks by level of urgency and then by time needed to complete them. If you have a moment, I'd like to go over-"

"Baralai," Nooj said. "Just give them copies."

"Right. Of course."

"We'll ask Paine to go." Gippal leaned back in his chair. "Whenever she decides to grace us with her presence again. We'll have her find Leblanc, talk to her, bring a seductive sphere from Nooj or something to lure her out. Meanwhile, we'll try to keep the Council in one piece. Things work out in Djose and Paine fixes everything while she's there. Boom. Civil war averted."

"That would be nice," Yuna said.

"That would be nigh impossible," Nooj said. "But we can expect forward progress if it goes well, and that's all we can ask for now."

"Geez." Gippal pushed away from the table. "I think I've had my fill. How about I see you all again next week?"

"What about the meeting tomorrow?" Yuna asked.

Gippal grimaced. "Ugh. Don't remind me."

"He's right." Baralai stood. "We should take a break for now. But I plan to sit in tomorrow, so I'll see you all then."

He could only hope that Nooj was right about that forward progress.

* * *

Yuna stood on a bridge overlooking the mass of people that populated Bevelle city. From the palace, she could see the different tiers of the city that separated sections, branching out in each direction like points of a star, completed by the road that stretched out across the sea and into the fading horizon. The midmorning sun warmed the ground below her and illuminated the city in sparkling white and red. For a moment, it appeared for to be stained by the blood it shed during Sin's Reign.

"I thought I'd find you here." Paine appeared out of nowhere. "Leblanc's gossip bothering you?"

"Leblanc," Yuna said, "is the least of my problems. I'm more concerned with what this means for our work in the future. We can't govern a people that don't want us in power. I thought you were missing?"

Paine looked out across the city, wind teasing her hair. This close, Yuna could make out every scratch and scar marring her friend's skin. "What do you care about them? Last I checked, people's opinions didn't bother you."

"They do, but I learned to disregard it sometimes. This isn't one of those times."

"Make it one."

Yuna shook her head, causing her hair to blow in her face. "You know that isn't how it works. If I want to help them, I need their respect."

"You don't think you have it?"

"I might now, but I won't soon if I back up my friends. Baralai and the others are better politicians than me – if I could keep learning under them for a few years first, maybe, but even if they lasted in office that long, I bet Leblanc will find something to slander me long before I can pull that off."

"Leblanc isn't that focused," Paine said. "This was an impulse she acted on."

Yuna chewed on her lip and leaned against the railing. "If it is," Yuna said, "it's a pretty effective one."

Paine blinked. "What are they saying?"

"That Baralai and Gippal are bloodthirsty." Yuna held her hair down against the wind. "That Tidus is a careless foreigner. Some think he's a rogue Al Bhed working with Gippal. Some think he's a heartbreaking celebrity. Some think he's both."

"Doesn't sound plausible to me."

"It sounds _ridiculous_." Yuna bowed her head against the sun. "But a lot of them believe it, and they have more power than we do."

"Are the armies loyal to the Council?"

Yuna hesitated. "Maybe. I haven't had the time to gauge their reactions, but Nooj should have that information shortly."

"You have Bevelle. A world of machina at your fingertips. The power that Yevon stole for itself is all you need to beat back any rebellion that knocks on your door."

"That's…" Yuna paused. "… A violent and controlling solution."

"But an effective one."

Yuna looked at Paine, who returned the stare with bored eyes. _Dead_ eyes.

"You've been acting strange." Yuna took a step back. "What's happened that you won't tell me about?"

Paine looked away. "I've changed, like you have. Who would have guessed that a summoner would become one of the most powerful people in Spira?"

"No," Yuna said, "I traveled with you and Rikku in the Gullwings, first. That was the only version of me that you knew."

"You're getting paranoid. Perhaps you should rest."

Yuna snatched Paine's hand. "What's going on?" Her hand felt cold in Yuna's through the leather gloves. "Are you sick?"

"No." Paine pulled back and her arms fell idle at her sides. She blinked rapidly, as if to get something out. "I'm… distracted, I guess."

"With what?" Yuna stepped away from the railing. "Has something happened?"

Paine took a moment to answer, fingers twitching. Yuna felt trepidation creep in through her blood, starting up a low rhythm. "I can't," Paine said.

"Can't?" Yuna repeated, feeling for her CommSphere. "Can't what?"

"Can't…" Paine's eyes and neck twitched. "No. Stop talking."

Yuna blinked. "You're not okay. What can we do to help?"

"Leave me alone." Paine turned to leave. Yuna snatched her by the arm.

"No, I want-"

"Stop!" Paine wrenched away. "You have no idea what's happening!"

"But I want to help!" Yuna fingered the dial on her sphere. "Let me fix it!"

"NO!" Paine kicked Yuna back and sent her hurtling across the bridge. Her commSphere shattered.

Paine's chest heaved with each breath and one hand moving to grip her head. "Don't push him!" she cried. "He's almost given up on you!"

Yuna touched the Psychic sphere and felt the change overtake her before yelling across the palace with the might of a telepathic wave, "Guards!"

Paine charged her again and Yuna ripped a hand through the air, grabbing for Paine with her mind. The other girl hissed and scrambled against Yuna's hold for a moment before the weight proved too much and Yuna dropped her.

"What-?" she gasped, bringing her hands up in defense as Paine slammed into her. Yuna went toppling over the edge of the bridge, but with a psychic boost she managed to get a hold on the railing before falling past the structure.

Whatever Paine was now, she wasted no time kicking at Yuna's fingers. "He wants _Baralai_ ," she said. "If you don't push it, then you don't have to be a second victim!"

Yuna flipped herself off the railing and threw herself up upward. "Whoever it is you're talking about, I'm not letting him take _anyone_!" She shot Paine with a bolt. " _Including you_!"

Paine grunted at the hit. "This!" she shouted. " _This_ is why you'll never be a good politician! You can't separate yourself from the situation!"

"I can!" Yuna mentally forced Paine to the side and rolled onto the hard roof. "I choose not to!"

Paine cried out, leaping back to her feet and kicking out Yuna's in one smooth motion. "I'm trying not to get anyone killed!" she shouted. "It's all I can do not to-!"

Paine snapped her head to see guards approaching. When she spoke again, it sounded as if she spoke through a thin layer of water, rippling in an inhuman distortion. "You'll regret this, Spiran."

Paine reached out her hands to both sides and the guards and _pushed_ at the air, sending a rippling shockwave crashing both ways.

Yuna swiveled from the force of it, but managed to maintain her bearings. Paine launched into the air while the guards all stumbled about in a daze. Yuna didn't see more than a couple fall over the ledge.

"Yuna!" A mental cry of panic, one she knew. Gippal chased after her through halls of red and white.

Paine hurtled downward again and Yuna threw herself backward before the other girl hit the ground in a deafening crash that exploded the center of the bridge.

Yuna's heart skipped a beat as the structure promptly deteriorated.

"Run!" she shouted, scrambling backward while Paine faded into a silhouette below them.

After what felt like an eternity squeezed into a split second, Yuna steeled herself and leaped after her.

The Psychic sent a jolt of an alarm through her head, but otherwise steeled itself with Yuna against the fall as the wind whipped at her skin and clothes. The ground approached startlingly fast, though Paine had her arms spread as if to fly.

Yuna grabbed Paine with her psychic hold and hurtled both onto a nearby ledge.

They slammed into it and rolled a ways before Yuna scrambled back to her feet. Paine moved slower, her reactions sluggish.

Yuna slammed down on her again with an invisible weight and Paine flattened.

"Hey!" Gippal stood on the ledge above them. "What are you doing there?!"

Yuna looked down. The ground stood forever beneath them. Cries from the Farplane struck her again, its pained call hitting as a sharp spike in her head. _Travelers through the dead, holy magic colliding with the planet's energy-_

She pushed the thought down and turned to see Paine, who'd grown still and calm, her expression bored again.

"I swear," Gippal muttered, "we leave you alone for two minutes and you throw each other off buildings. What's up with women?"

Inside, the Psychic murmured, repeating his troubled thoughts that he failed to hide with his usual banter. He hated the thought of seeing Paine as an enemy, with a mixture of fear and sorrow feeding into it.

Memories of shared heartbreak and confusion rippled through her for a moment with many similar images overlapping.

Gippal groaned and went inside again, presumably to join them. "Yeah. We're in deep trouble."

Yuna huffed every breath as she watched Paine, who laid limp against the ground, fight gone from her. Gippal was right.

They were in trouble.

* * *

Shinra's footfalls echoed in the deep. He found it a touch impressive that these people had managed to carve so deep into the earth. He'd calculated the gil required to do something similar once, and it was somewhere in the millions. Though, impressive as it was, he still had to figure out that escape plan.

He reached for his belt-

Only to remember they'd taken it.

In his mind's eye, he could see their bodies in his hands, ripped to shreds. Within him, Omega whispered menacingly. It would be dangerous to get too close to anyone now. Once it woke, it would be hard for Shinra to stop it. He had to avoid living people during the time that he could feel the fear inside him hot and fresh.

"Hey, twerp!" came Rikku's voice. She spoke in Al Bhed, a welcome change given how little Shinra had heard of the language since getting here.

Her finding him wasn't too good a sign, but Shinra would accept it. Omega liked Rikku, so he didn't have to worry about it trying to kill her. "Hey," he said. "What are you doing over here?"

"Uh huh." Rikku joined him and Shinra resumed walking to keep up with her. "I just thought you should know that I got a basic radar working. We can scan the immediate area for signs of life. It's not an airship, but it should get us somewhere."

"That's an improvement. I guess."

Rikku sighed. "I know. Kind of lost now, aren't we? No working tools, no weapons, no Yunie. We might as well be naked."

Shinra cocked his head. "But the covering supplied by our clothing-"

"No, you idiot. I mean we may as well not have _anything_. It's a saying. Oh, come on. I've been among Spirans for too long."

Shinra furrowed his brow. Lately Rikku hadn't spent that much time at all among Spirans, given her work for the _Celsius_. How did she let their speech affect hers? The only real Spirans she seemed to talk to these days were Tidus and Yuna, with some rare exceptions made for those in Besaid. Shinra found her time with Gippal to be especially suspicious, but she didn't like him bringing that subject up for some reason.

"Hey. You're still glowing. Uneasy?"

Shinra shook his head. "It's not about how I feel. It's about how alert Omega is."

"Huh." Rikku clasped her fingers behind her head. "So, it _is_ a living thing?"

Omega stirred, causing Shinra's fingers to twitch and his veins to pulse. "It's like a symbiont, from what I can figure. Kind of like how some fish-"

"Ah, ah!" Rikku stuck a finger at his face. "No details! I don't want to know!"

"Weird. I thought you were more scientific than that."

"I am!"

Omega stirred again and Shinra stopped, holding up a hand. "Wait. Rebels."

Rikku blinked, glancing around them. "I don't see anything."

Shinra slowly walked forward, bare feet padding quietly against the wooden ground. He blinked, eyes shifting in focus. Omega's infrared vision overlaid his and Shinra made out heat signatures around the corner. He motioned for Rikku to come closer, and she did so with a reluctant sigh. "I still don't see-"

Footsteps sounded and a mix of Spiran and Al Bhed rebels broke through the door at the end of the hall.

Rikku leapt into action, but Shinra struggled to see through the haze in his vision.

He knew Rikku to be good with daggers, but now they had nothing on them even resembling a blade and it showed in her attempts to take down their assailants. She was still stronger and better-trained than all of them, but it wasn't enough to make up for sheer numbers.

"Get the boy!"

Shinra fought Omega, even as his blood turned to fire and his vision brightened. The first signs that _she_ held him.

The whole room sharpened in focus – he could see the motes of dust drifting from the ceiling even though the only light emitted from tiny cracks in the corners of the room. Energy surged in his veins, still an alien sensation despite the months he had to adjust.

The rebels hesitated near him, standing back as if a little distance would make a difference.

Mind settling, Shinra stretched out his fingers.

And darkness lashed out.

Shinra wielded Omega like an incorporeal weapon. It held more influence over him than the usual GX Blaster, but… okay, he didn't actually have much of any control over it.

Omega reacted on its own, targeting the "biggest threat" people. Namely, the people that Shinra thought to be the biggest and scariest without being Rikku. Best not to hurt Rikku.

Something about the darkness turned tangible as Shinra tried to take over. Tentacles of dark mist shot out around him, burning its victims. Rebels flew backward as he worked-

And suddenly _stopped_.

Shinra drew up short, breathing hard. Omega never stopped in the middle of a slaughter.

Something bit Shinra's side and he looked down to see a spot of red growing around his hip. That was new. He'd never see his suit change color like that. Was it because of a bullet? There wasn't a break in the back of his suit.

Of course, it was a bullet. They didn't always get through the body.

Right?

Shock overtook him, causing the world to tip on its side. Somewhere in the distance, he distantly registered Rikku screaming.

Blood. What should he do about the blood?

He touched the ground.

No. He _hit_ the ground.

His head felt stuffy, like someone had stuck a bunch of cloth inside, and a strange tingling sensation crawled through every fiber of his being, muscles turning stiff and fingers unresponsive.

An unfamiliar voice cut through the numbness taking over Shinra's senses, "Hey!"

Everything tingling. Couldn't feel his feet.

A whirlwind of motion broke through his vision, but Shinra couldn't make sense of it. Black and white spun around him, mingling with the yellows and greens of everything else. Shinra fought to keep his eyes open.

A pressure touched his side, but Shinra couldn't turn to see what caused it.

More pressure around his arms. The ground moved below him, sliding along like a conveyer belt.

Or did he move?

Shinra dipped his head back, arms limp at his sides as all feeling left him. He tried to make out the voice that spoke; it sounded a lot like a girl's voice. It pitched at the end of each line, as if to ask questions. But only the Spiran language did that, and he thought this voice should speak Al Bhed.

Oh, wait. That _was_ Al Bhed, merely accented by Spiran. How did Rikku manage to adopt a foreign accent? Really strange, unless Gippal was teaching her how.

His head hurt, the sharpest sensation among all the deadened feeling. He resolved to stop thinking and let himself rest. His eyes drifted shut and he let all senses fade to sleep.

Omega didn't come to greet him.


	17. Chapter 17

Chuami took a deep breath, standing before the "cell" door. She'd been here for at least a few minutes, but she still wasn't sure what to say.

Screw that. She didn't have to rehearse it beforehand.

She broke the lock and swung the door open to reveal the bloodied and bandaged forms of the two Al Bhed they brought in from Djose. The girl, Rikku, shot to her feet at Chuami's entrance. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. It was hard to take her seriously when her hands were bound by rope. The guards must have given up on holding them with mechanical bindings.

The boy, Shinra, regarded her with a flat look, though he barely hid a certain annoyance.

She put on an air that she hoped felt in control. "I got you two to a safe room to recover. What happened?"

"We reminded your goons why we're useful." Rikku rolled her eyes. "These guys are the worst kind of grateful."

"The kid should be recovering." Chuami jabbed a finger Shinra's way. "That's the whole reason I moved you two!"

Rikku scowled. "And who's fault is that?"

"Never mind." Chuami held up her hands. "I came to help."

"With _what_?" Despite the bite in her voice, Rikku eased up a little. "You want to throw a few more punches?"

"Ugh. Don't even pretend I want to." Chuami looked around this. "The childish tantrums are getting kind of old."

"The childish-!" Rikku scoffed, disbelief in her face. "I know rage born of fear, you know! I grew up in it! And you're pretending you're above that kind of thing?"

"She's right," Shinra muttered, wincing.

"I don't know how you've done it," Rikku said, "but you've taught everyone to hate the very people that are keeping us together! Do you want me to _thank_ you for destroying the world I created! I didn't really want to, but Tidus and Yunie are way too good at talking for their own good!"

Chuami folded her arms. "I'm just cleaning out Yevon's remains."

Rikku exaggerated a groan. "Have you _met_ anyone in Bevelle? Baralai _hates_ old Yevon! His new order was based on the teachings instead of the secrets and commands and garbage! Gippal and Nooj don't even _care_! Geez!"

"Oi." Shinra rolled his head back. "Keep it down."

"No!" Rikku held up her hands. "Lady, before you decide to raid Bevelle with this rebellion of yours, remember that everyone else is _like you_! You remember how we used to be shunned from society? Yeah! I got that! But as it turns out, we're built from the same pieces! Most people I know in Bevelle have come to see the evil that old Yevon brought and are actively trying to purge it from the system! Just. Like. You!"

Chuami couldn't summon the energy to get mad. "So, you're saying that those people _don't_ encourage worship?"

Rikku slapped her forehead despite her bound hands. "What else could I be saying?"

"That Tidus and Yuna don't condemn the injustice of their predecessors."

"They do! They do, but you don't see it! You're mistranslating everything they say!"

"Hey!" Shinra said. "Quiet down! You're giving me a headache!"

"Fine." Chuami turned on her heel. "And here I thought we could work together."

Rikku sighed. "Yeah – wait. What?"

"I came to ask for your help," Chuami said, forcing out every word. "I'm leaving the rebellion."

She waited in silence. Neither Rikku or Shinra reacted for a long moment, with only the distant yawning of the cavernous tunnel system to hear.

"I mean," Rikku finally said, "if you really want help, then I guess we can see what's up."

"Not sure how that's gonna do anything," Shinra said. "We have an entire base of rebels to get past, and Omega's not talking to me."

The door opened again, revealing Palm. "Hey, I have something to tell you."

Chuami looked between him and the others. "Watch it, I was trying to get information."

Shinra pressed himself against the wall, eyes wide.

Palm stood back and regarded her with a flat look. "I'll wait."

"I'd rather you not."

"I'd rather I did."

"Hey!" Rikku kneeled by Shinra. "Oh, come on! You're doing it again?"

Chuami turned to face Palm head-on. "What are you doing?"

"Listening. I just said that." Palm behind her. "You've got a bigger problem on your hands."

Chuami snapped her attention to find Shinra struggling to breathe, instead making faint choking sounds. His lip trembled, and his eyes were fixed on Palm.

Palm, who narrowed his eyes and twitched his fingers. But otherwise didn't move.

" _Get_! Oi!" Rikku's voice took on a pleading tone. " _Pnaydra_! _Bmayca, pnaydra_!"

Palm stepped forward and Shinra slumped over, completely still.

" _Hu_!" Rikku shrieked. " _Hu! HU!_ "

Palm kneeled by Shinra's side. Rikku tried to bat him away, but Palm held his ground. Leaned over the kid, placed a hand on his side.

And lit up in a glow of purple and blue. With a hint of red.

The light filled the room for a brief second, and then died again to nothing. It appeared darker after the change, and Shinra looked as grey as a broken sphere.

He sucked in a breath.

" _There_!" Rikku shook him. "Oh, come on, come on!"

Shinra sputtered and coughed. Rikku pulled him close and helped him into a sitting position.

"I didn't expect to find her power in such a place," Palm muttered. "How long has this been affecting him?"

"A year or something," Rikku managed. Her voice cracked and strained and she looked at him with red eyes. "What did you _do_?"

"I took out the possessor." Palm shook his head. "She was never meant to take anyone else, and it would only hurt him further to keep her."

Shinra shook violently and he craned his head to look around him, fear in the frantic dance of his eyes. "Omega…" Where he once glowed, Chuami thought she could make out faint, dark lines that crisscrossed where his veins would be.

"She's gone." Palm stood. "She won't bother you anymore."

Shinra's voice took on a broken tone. "Where is she?"

Palm pursed his lips. "Perhaps I should leave…"

"No." Chuami snatched his arm. He regarded her with a flat look. "You're not going anywhere until you explain what you just did and who you are."

Rikku held Shinra as sobs overtook him. Chuami made out words like, "just a kid," and "alone again."

"I came to negotiate." Palm glanced Rikku's way. "I assume we're all ready to get out of here."

"Great." Chuami released him and hung her head. "Another one."

"We're not going anywhere with you!" Rikku gripped Shinra tighter. "What kind of – what _are you_?"

"Palm-" Chuami began before he interrupted.

"It's Eight." He looked around at them. "And I'm an emissary of the Goddess Mwynn, whose power has been splintered and spread across the cosmos. That kid somehow picked up a shard, and I just relieved him of it. You'll thank me later."

" _Why_?" Rikku released Shinra and stood to her full height. " _Why_ in the name of _Yevon_ would I thank you for that?!"

"Humans aren't meant to hold a god's power, not without preparation." Palm looked at Shinra. "It would have killed him eventually."

Shinra drew in a shuddering breath, face red in the faint light of the cell. No glow emitted from him and he still looked dim. With a trembling voice, he said, "He's right."

Rikku spun on her heel. " _What_?"

Shinra's mouth worked silently for a moment and he hiccupped. "She-… she healed over a bullet. Over debris. They-… she didn't know how to care for… how not to kill people…"

"Gods don't know how humans work." Palm held out a hand, showing a faint glow in his veins. "Only ordained vessels can survive the process."

Chuami swayed on the spot. She felt like she was on the verge of waking from a dream. "But… the escape plan."

"Ah. Yes." Palm hopped from foot to foot. "I can incapacitate the guards and provide you all with a route out of the building."

"You activated the bomb." Chuami's head was light. "You've been a plant this whole time."

Rikku sat down with Shinra. He scooted close and leaned against her, and Rikku held a protective arm around him.

"Not for Bevelle." Palm paced about the room. "But yes."

Chuami gripped her hair in both hands. "But my plans!"

"Oh, please!" Rikku rolled her head back. "As if you were ever gonna win!"

"You're still not out of this!" Chuami stepped toward her. "Don't think you're off the hook!"

"Us?" Rikku scoffed. "You make it sound like we can't take care of ourselves, you know."

"Can we?" Shinra asked, holding up his bound and raw wrists. His voice still scratched and fresh blood showed through the leg of his ruined suit. "Doesn't look too good to me."

Rikku pulled a knife from her boot. "Maybe _you_ can't."

"Sin scales," Shinra muttered. "You've been sitting in here counting tiles since they dumped us."

"For good reason," Rikku gestured. "This room is only ten by ten, and I've noticed the other rooms are of a similar size, which means I know what dimensions we're talking after they so helpfully dragged us through the hall, showing off the layout. Chuami, is the exit on the opposite end of the structure from here, with two guards positioned every ten lengths?"

Chuami paled. "What?"

"I'm right." Rikku cut a fist free and held it toward Shinra, who begrudgingly bumped it with both of his.

"You still could have untied me," he said.

"Couldn't afford the commotion." Rikku started on his bindings.

Shinra rolled his eyes. Chuami could swear she saw a glimmer of determination inside them as Rikku cut the bonds loose. Shinra rubbed at his raw wrists and winced. "I won't forgive you for that."

Rikku swung the blade on her finger before slipping it back into her boot. "I wouldn't either."

"I'm not doing it yet," Chuami said.

"No," Palm said, "but soon. We'll begin preparations."

Chuami looked between them in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"About what?" Rikku asked, using a rock to sharpen a second dagger. Where did she get those?

"About breaking out!" Chuami gestured. "Have you even done this before?"

"Oh." Rikku snorted. "So many times. I've also engineered kidnappings in the past, so I'm kind of an expert in the whole business, you know."

Chuami chewed on her lip, considering the situation. Was it worth trusting herself and her plan to these guys and risk letting them trip her up? Or was it worth it to forgo any backup and slip out by herself?

As tempting as it was to leave these buffoons behind, she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Fine. But wait for my signal."

"What will that be?" Shinra asked.

"I don't know." Chuami turned to leave. "Something obvious."

Shinra muttered, "Helpful."

"This is a pretty fragile business," Palm said. "Don't see how you didn't see it before."

"You'll distract the guards." Rikku waved her hands in a strange, swimming motion. "And I'll cover backup diversions! If you can get me the materials, I'll make bombs that explode as big as Lulu's fire spells!"

"Is that really such a good idea?" Shinra muttered. "I thought we were trying to avoid their attention…"

"No one said that!"

"Attention is dangerous," Palm said, "but it could be necessary. Set the traps, but don't activate them unless absolutely necessary."

Rikku huffed. "Making them radio-controlled is gonna cost you extra."

"It would be inconvenient for them not to be."

"We have some," Chuami said. "Taken from Djose. I don't know if they're here, but I can ask around and see where they ended up."

"It's not that important," Palm said. "Just let me clear the path."

"After I give the signal," Chuami reminded him.

"And we get some food." Shinra gripped his bleeding leg. "I've barely had anything since we got here, and I'll only slow you all down if I can't move."

"You don't need food to move." Rikku's stomach growled and she put on a sheepish expression. "But, yeah, we're running kinda empty."

"Fine." Chuami gripped her temples. "Any other orders while I'm here?"

"A pillow would be nice," Shinra said. "Actually, bandages. I reopened the shot in my leg."

"A hairband for me." Rikku held her mess of hair up. "It's getting in the way again since you guys snapped it in Djose."

Chuami shook her head and left.

* * *

Her friend.

The room dimmed with the passing light of day. Tidus waited patiently beside her on the couch while Yuna stared at the sword floating in her hands. Tidus' thoughts proved quiet as she processed the events of the day – all she could make out was a constant hum of worry for her that battled with a desire to eat something fried. And to maybe perform an exorcism on Paine?

But Paine would never do something like this. Why did that thing take her? Of everyone Yuna knew, Paine was the strongest. Baralai and Nooj were each broken in some way by the events of the Crimson spheres, but Paine wasn't. She moved on. She was _Paine_. She didn't despair or hate – she quipped about people dragging their feet and groaned at misery. Emotions didn't affect her like most people, so how could an angry spirit take her?

The room was alight with bright hues of orange and gold. It was warm and pleasant, kept from overheating by Bevelle's cooling machinery. Yuna sighed and set the sword aside before accepting Tidus' hand in hers. Relief rippled through his mind, and Yuna relished the sense of security that came with his presence.

And… another presence. She thought for a moment she heard sagely words floating through his head.

"She's not gone forever," Yuna said. "We've fixed this before."

Tidus twisted in his seat to face her full-on. "Why can't we just cast a big white spell on her? Chase out the dead thing?"

"We don't know that it's a dead thing." Yuna leaned against the back cushion and sighed. "I wish it were that simple. But we had to chase Shuyin out of Baralai before, and then bring his dead lover to him."

"Oh." Tidus scrunched up his face. "Hm."

A quiet knock sounded at the door, and Yuna said, "Enter."

Baralai entered, looking solemn. "Kurgum is conducting the questioning process," he said, hanging close to the entrance. "I figured that would be more… effective." _Safer_.

"Why?" Tidus asked. "Isn't that kind of dangerous for him?"

"He has backup," Baralai said, "But we can't risk using anyone with an emotional connection. The creature possessing Paine appears to have a talent for manipulating those that Paine knew well – it tried to use our past against me."

"How are we going to do this?" Yuna asked quietly. "We barely know what this creature is. And Maechen's gone now, so we can't ask him for advice like we did with Shuyin."

"Do you know anything?" Tidus directed his attention to Baralai. "Given the whole 'been there, done that' in terms of that whole being-possessed thing?"

Baralai shook his head. "If I had him in my mind again, then I would be able to tell you, but I suspect it varies from spirit to spirit. Shuyin needed only the chance to speak with his lover again, but we don't know that this person has a lover or any weakness."

Yuna stood and Tidus joined her. "I want to talk to her," she said.

 _Still not safe._ Baralai shook his head. "Not until after Kurgum finishes at least."

"I can do it." Tidus released Yuna's hand. "Paine and I barely know each other – maybe I can get some useful information."

"What does this mean for the trip?" Yuna asked. "Who's going to Djose?"

The other two hesitated. Baralai and Tidus glanced at each other.

"I'll go," Tidus said.

"No," Baralai said. "You're still too high-profile."

"I can wear a disguise!"

"Like you did last time?"

"That was different!"

"Is there anyone else we can send?" Yuna asked. "We have other options, right?"

Baralai sighed and moved to take a seat nearby. "I've asked one of our higher-trained operatives. They'll get the job done."

Whispers echoed in her mind. Yuna fingered the sphere, causing an electric tingle down her spine.

Baralai and Tidus kept talking, their words lost in a nonsensical mess of language. Yuna wished for a moment they could… skip the verbal language. Skip the need to dress up their speech. Skip the fear of speaking before large crowds.

An alien voice whispered in her ear, overlaid with Snow's, _Don't fear._

She could never fear again.

 _Don't fear the light._

"Yuna!"

She jumped at Tidus' voice, wrenching away from the sphere again. Immediately the whispers died in her ears.

"Snow," she whispered. "He's here. In Bevelle."

* * *

Snow struggled against the burning caused by his various cuts and grazes. Overall, he managed to make it out in one piece, but he could count off much better days.

The guards at Bevelle first reacted with suspicion at his approach, but quickly gave up with mutters about Lady Yuna and her lenience. She'd let him in sooner or later anyway.

He attracted murmurs and stares and not a few offers of white magic and medicine, but Snow ignored them. It hurt, but he'd been through worse in the past. _Much_ worse.

When he hauled himself through the door separating him from the Council, he found himself face to face with the entirety of Spira's main governing force. Yuna, Nooj, Kurgum, Gippal, and Baralai all looked up at his entrance. As did Tidus, who jumped to his feet.

"Snow!" Tidus called and ran his way. "Man, what happened to you?"

Snow grit his teeth and punched Tidus in the face, sending the kid crashing into the sofa he came from.

"Hey!" Tidus scrambled back to his feet with blood seeping from a cut in his face. "What was that for?"

"For leaving me in that place!" Snow gestured to himself. "Don't get me wrong, I pulled it off, but that wasn't cool!"

The others all watched the exchange with piqued interest. "In my defense," Tidus said, "a dead spirit from another world possessed me and forced me to do that."

"Fair point." Snow folded his arms. "But let that guy know it still wasn't cool."

Tidus sucked in a breath. "Yeah, he knows. Wait, what? You believe me?"

"Tidus," Nooj said slowly, "did you say you were possessed?"

"What's this?" Gippal asked. "What excitement did the rest of us mortals miss?"

"The portal!" Snow started – he'd forgotten about that. "The artifact you found in the Baaj ruins – Paine destroyed it!"

"It was a portal?" Gippal pulled out a recording device. "Tell me more."

"Long story short," Snow said, "… I actually need some healing. Any of you got some mana left in you?"

"Here," said Yuna, rushing to his side. "I'm so sorry – I should have thought of that earlier."

"Nah." Snow took a seat and let Yuna use a cure on him. "It's nothing."

"Then why did you hit me?" Tidus demanded.

"We're waiting." Gippal still held his recording device. "That artifact?"

"Oh, yes." Snow snapped back to attention while Yuna channeled cooling white magic that rushed through his system and refreshed his energy. "About that. So, the artifact was a gate, one meant to travel through space and time, but before I could use it, Paine came in and-"

"We got Paine," said Nooj. "She's been possessed by something, not unlike our Lady Yuna."

"Hey!" Yuna paused her healing. "I've managed to control my spirit!"

"Go on," Baralai said. "What is this about space and time?"

Snow took a deep breath. "I've been having these dreams. These _weird_ dreams. Like… is any of this for real, or…? You know, about dying and time crashes and that kind of stuff? Plus, there's this really hot chick that I think I might be married to, but her sister's difficult to please. I think she's going to kill me when I see her again…"

Nooj tapped his cane. "I doubt that's important."

"What about the artifact?" Gippal waved his device. "Come on. Surely you have more than that?"

"Yeah," Snow said. "The gate. It connects to this thing called the 'Historia Crux.' Kind of a messy business, really. Almost got a couple of my friends killed. It's a useful tool, of course, but it's also a symptom of something bad. A sickness in the timeline, or a disruption in the order upstairs."

"It's a disruption." Tidus cleared his throat. "That's what Minwu tells me. Something about missing gods or whatever."

Snow nodded to himself. "That sounds about right."

"Minwu," Yuna whispered. "So that's his name."

"Missing gods," said Nooj. "Like Yevon?"

Yuna paused and looked between them. "Yevon wasn't a god. Was he?"

"No," said Tidus. "These are bigger, I think. Minwu's really unclear about it."

"What can we do, though?" Kurgum asked. "Are we supposed to use the gate?"

Snow held up a hand. "I am. It responded to my touch, and these things usually like a single traveler or two that they select and have move through them."

"So, you need another access point." Nooj groaned and leaned back. "That won't be easy to find."

"There have been reports," said Baralai, "of strange people moving through the Farplane and interacting with the living in ways that shouldn't be possible. Could there be more of you?"

Snow bobbed his head from side to side. "Maybe."

Kurgum frowned. "The Farplane isn't meant for use like that. Could that be what's causing the recurring specters and unsent."

"Seems dangerous, too," Tidus said. "What's to keep you from turning into pyreflies? Minwu says not much, by the way."

Snow rounded on Tidus. "Minwu can talk for himself! How about he show himself to the rest of us?"

"We'll look into it." Baralai collected papers from one of the tables. "Snow, it looks like you should rest for now, anyway. We'll let you know if we find out further details."

"That's not good enough!" Snow leaped to his feet. "We can't wait on this!"

"We have to," said Nooj. "Without more data, we have no way of getting you through one of those gates."

"I'm done waiting!" Snow bellowed. Yuna recoiled. "There has to be at least one more gate!"

"Assuming Paine hasn't destroyed it as well," Tidus said.

Snow hesitated. If she could eliminate one, she could do it again. Or maybe did it before. "There's another way. There always is."

"I should hope so," Gippal said. "I'd rather not deal with any otherworld shenanigans for the time being."

"I'd rather not deal with them ever." Tidus looked to Snow. "Could you let those gods know that we need a break? Did they miss the whole thing with Sin?"

Yuna gave a heavy sigh. "I don't think that's how it works. But if possible, I would like to back up what they said."

"Everyone would." Baralai leaned back in his chair. "But it's up to us to deal with the fallout either way. Let's all meet back here tomorrow morning. I have more matters to bring up with all of you as soon as possible."

Yuna rose. "I'll fit into my schedule."

"Get some rest." Tidus passed Snow on the way out. "You look like you need it."

Snow gaped. "Are we ignoring this? What is the point of you all, if not to protect your own Yevon-forsaken _world?_ "

"That's what we're doing," said Nooj. "Were we to run off at this moment, all we would earn is further rumors and mistrust. Spira would declare us unfit for rule and the rebellion would march in by the morrow."

"I'll send you a guy," Gippal said. "We can probably find this gate by the weekend."

"That's it?" Snow looked about them. "Is that the fastest you can do?"

"You expecting miracles, pal?" Gippal shook his head. "If so, you're asking the wrong people. It'll be pushing it to get it done as it is."

Another memory rippled through his mind, of soul fragments sparkling in the sky and hearing Vanille's distant voice remarking on the power of man to make their own miracles.

Snow huffed. "If you don't have something tomorrow, I'll find it myself."

"Works for me." Gippal patted him on the shoulder. "Just let me know when you do."

* * *

Leblanc's mansion was large, Chuami found, but not so large she couldn't find her way to the master bedroom. The rest of the building was nice, but not as grand as Leblanc would have it, and there was only one door that indicated the level of luxury that Leblanc would settle for.

Chuami walked down the main hall and past posters of old Guado leaders, which were still perfectly intact. They must have been enchanted to be immovable or something, given that no one around here would want pictures of the old inhabitants.

She stopped when she saw one of Baralai.

It was small and hidden in one of the corners, but it was there and painted in the exact, painstaking fashion of the others. Leblanc's sources were accurate then – unless that _was_ the source.

The master bedroom laid at the end of the hall instead of the front, which must have been a Guado thing. Chuami didn't know why it wasn't made the center of attention, aside from maybe security reasons.

It was dark when she entered, but Chuami's eyes adjusted quickly. She left the door open, which let in a hint of light from one of the rooms where someone was still awake, but that was barely enough to illuminate the door handle, much less the whole room. She leaned against the wall right beside the door and waited.

After what felt like minutes, footsteps approached, and Leblanc entered, eyes stuck on a sphere she held. The audio was low enough that Chuami couldn't make out what it said, but Leblanc was intent enough on listening to the contents that she missed Chuami.

Chuami reached out and shut the door, which allowed her the satisfaction of watching Leblanc spin to see her. The dark of the room did little to help Leblanc, and Chuami waited in shadow until the other woman finally locked eyes on Chuami's location.

"I need to leave," Chuami said simply, hovering near the light switch. Leblanc turned off her sphere and let out a sigh.

"Cold feet?" she asked, taking the seat at her desk despite the dark. She dropped the sphere on it with a quiet thud. "I never pegged you for one to second-guess herself."

"I have people that I'm worried about." It wasn't a total lie. "I think I'll serve them better at their side than hiding away in here."

"I can't assign you to an outside team. Who would I replace you with? _Luzzu?_ No, you're too valuable."

"Luzzu's a good man. That would be a smart move on your part to promote him."

Leblanc growled. "Watch yourself, _girl_."

Chuami fell silent. No antagonizing her, she reminded herself. It would only make it harder to get out in the end.

"It's dangerous," Leblanc said. "I can't let you go. They'll immediately recognize you as one of us and kill you. Or worse."

"You don't know that."

Leblanc leaned forward and pulled a knife from her boot. She played with it, flipping it from hand to hand and twirling it about. "No," she said, "I don't. But that's just it – I thought I had Yuna pegged and here we stand. She's playing right along with Bevelle's manipulations with her self-righteous girlfriends."

"Bevelle's not all bad. It's corrupted as Sin, yes, but I don't think they'd kill us. Unlike some of your own men."

Leblanc scoffed. "Is this your sympathetic boyfriend again? He's left you, too, hasn't he?"

Chuami scowled in disgust. "Kurgum was _crippled_. He had no other choice than to find refuge somewhere safe."

"And you know that he _is_ safe?"

"No. But I trust the people he's with now more than anyone in this Yevon-forsaken building. You've kidnapped _children_!"

Leblanc spun the knife in her hands. "We're taking safe care of them."

"Are you?" Chuami snapped. "Did you not hear about your own subordinates that _lynched_ those two Al Bhed?"

"An unfortunate mistake. I'll have the culprits punished as soon as I find them."

"That's not good enough!"

Leblanc slapped a hand on the table and stood. " _How dare you_?" she hissed, stepping closer and hunching enough to look almost snake-like. "I let you in, I keep you at my side despite my better judgement, and _this_ is how you repay me! Criticism! Getting in the way of my efforts! I've been planning this for _years_ , and I'm not going to let you get in my way!"

Chuami clenched her fingers into fists as Leblanc approached. "You're not doing this for Spira," she hissed. "Only for yourself."

"It _is_ for Spira." Leblanc lunged forward and grabbed Chuami's hair, prompting a growl. "You were going to help! You were going to rule Spira with me and instead, you'll die an unknown traitor, love."

She brandished her knife and Chuami felt something primal wake up inside. Chuami thrashed. Her blood thumped in her ears, loud and rhythmic as her heart raced.

If she knew black magic, this would have been an appropriate time to use it. Too bad she didn't know black magic.

Leblanc slashed Chuami's arm and pain blossomed in that area.

Chuami screamed, grabbed Leblanc by the neck, and threw her to the ground.

Chuami whipped Divider from its sheath as Leblanc struggled back to her feet.

"You forgot who you're dealing with." Chuami spun Divider in one hand, arm growing wet with blood. "Sir Auron was the greatest guardian to ever live. He beat Sin not once, but _twice_."

Leblanc threw herself at her again. Despite Chuami's misgivings, the lady was _fast_. The reach on that knife was poor, but Chuami let her guard down prematurely.

Chuami scrambled away just before Leblanc would hit her again.

Leblanc's hands crackled with lightning and Chuami brought up her sword in time to catch the bolt. Divider flashed, but the cloth of its handle protected her from the blast.

"You're not his daughter, love!" Leblanc yelled, barely nicking Chuami's sleeve. "You have no proof but the word of your delusional mother!"

"Maybe not." Chuami spun away. "And maybe I'll never know for sure. But I'll honor his memory all the same! I'll make myself into the kind of person he would be _proud_ to call his own!"

Chuami jumped onto the bed, but she couldn't for the life of her find the distance she needed to get an advantage. Close-quarters was Leblanc's specialty, as it turned out, and this was as close as it got.

Chuami blocked a burst of fire and made for the door, which easily gave way beneath her. She burst into the wide space of the hallway.

Leblanc followed close behind.

Chuami turned, screamed, and rushed in as Leblanc brandished her blade. It bit into Chuami's skin, cutting into her arms and sides. Chuami kept going.

Leblanc managed a look of outrage before Chuami hit her in the chest with the blunt of her blade. Bones crunched with the impact and Leblanc screamed, crumpling to the ground. She groaned for a moment before her body stilled. The pain must have knocked her out.

Voices echoed down the hall and Chuami quietly cursed to herself. If anyone saw her like this, then it would be hard to explain at best. At worst, some of the more fanatical members might try to kill her.

With a sigh, Chuami sheathed Divider again and dragged Leblanc's unconscious body down the dark hall and away from the light.

She was heavier than Kurgum, Chuami noted bitterly as she pulled her. Perhaps she should've just killed the woman and been done with it, but there were repercussions for that.

Chuami bit back a cry of surprise when Shinra's silhouetted appeared against the dark.

"You!" Chuami hissed, stumbling in her shock and dropping Leblanc. "What are you _doing_ here?"

Shinra said nothing. He stood outside her path, watching her like a behemoth eying its prey.

Chuami kept walking. "Let's get you back to your cell. If they find out you're out and about, then I'm good as dead. Though, I guess I'm dead either way..."

"No." The kid's voice was slightly raspy. Chuami sighed, turning to face him. "I don't want to go back there."

She moved closer, but he recoiled and she stopped.

"It smells like Home. Who's that?" Shinra craned his neck to see Leblanc's unconscious body.

"A present," Chuami said. She pushed past him. "And the signal. Get your sister – it's time to leave."

"She's not my-"

" _Get her anyway._ "


	18. Chapter 18

With the advent of night, the corridors of Leblanc's little palace were dark and shadowed. Chuami stalked in the night, Divider gripped tightly in one hand. She didn't know if anyone suspected her and she preferred not to be noticed.

Chuami tread lightly along the wooden floor. Everything was quiet; despite the alarm raised at Leblanc's disappearance, there was surprisingly little effort made to find her again. Chuami sensed that most merely put up an appearance of responsibility, hiding their doubts and reluctance at persevering through the issue. The rumor that Bevelle already knew their location spread quickly, and few remained hopeful in the face of possible obliteration.

That was another mistake on Leblanc's part – she underestimated the Council's firepower. They all fought for peace, but that didn't mean that they weren't prepared to stamp out a coup.

Chuami heard footsteps making their way towards her. A patrol approached.

She brought Divider up and rested the tip of his blade against the wall. The silence stretched on as she waited, sword in hand.

One of the guards appeared beyond the corner and Chuami swung. The blunt of her blade hit the guy in the chest, and the other barely had time to shout before she took him with a smack to his leg.

* * *

Eight ran.

The hallway disappeared behind him in a blur, shadows quickly giving way to candle-lit rooms. He stopped in one of the smaller rooms, gesturing behind him. "This way."

Rikku jumped to her feet and grabbed Shinra by the arm. He followed lethargically despite Rikku's attempts to force him to rush with her. Eight darted a look around the vicinity. The time of evening would make their flight suspicious, but thus far no one appeared to be alerted to their escape.

The two rushed ahead of him. Eight clenched his fists, watching them fade into the darkness while he slipped into another room.

As expected, a couple of guards soon appeared in the doorway, toting guns at their hips. Eight analyzed them as they shouted in alarm, then armed themselves. Both were no more than a couple of years older than him, physically-speaking, and the way they held themselves spoke of little combat experience. Apparently Rikku and Shinra were low-priority hostages. Eight wasn't sure if he should find that a concern or relief.

"Hey!" said one of the guards, a young man with tan skin. "Are you behind this break-in?"

Eight shrugged, shifting his weight. "I've been here for a few weeks, now. Not much of a break in if I stick around that long."

"Looks nervous, doesn't he?" quipped the other guard, a teenaged girl with questionable tastes in armor. "See the way he's fidgeting with his feet? Definitely our culprit."

If they pulled their guns, Eight would have a hard time dodging out of the way given the confined space. He could easily yank the weapons straight from their hands, but that would be pointless. Granted, getting shot wasn't productive either, but Queen would kill him if he let himself be found out.

"What are you looking for?" Eight asked.

The two exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Only our two most dangerous hostages," said the boy. "This is where we kept them. Madame Leblanc said she wanted to keep them handy, and now they've disappeared to who-knows-where thanks to you!"

"You underestimate your targets," Eight said. "Pitifully. They would have found their way out eventually."

"That's it!" shouted the man. He grabbed for his gun. "We're taking you to Madame Leblanc!"

Eight regarded them with a flat look as they leveled their weapons. He could almost see the battle play out in his mind before it started. Bullet on the right, quick step to the left…

The air shattered with an explosive bang and Eight easily slipped out of the bullet's trajectory. How primitive were these weapons to be so _loud_?

Bullet near his shoulder, move left again. Dodge one near his hip, then duck under a high shot.

Both goons cursed in surprise as Eight stepped out of the way of several more bullets. He sustained only a few hits to his extremities. One grazed his lung, which quickly healed over.

Panic reared its ugly head and the two dropped their weapons. Eight let them go – Queen would be upset for his display, but he preferred to avoid casualties where possible. Better to scare them away than kill them.

He shook the tension out of his body and moved on.

* * *

Chuami stumbled into the room she was told to find Shinra and Rikku, her clothes in disarray and bleeding from the gash on her shoulder.

"Good thing they had such a big stash of explosives," Shinra said as he and Rikku wired up a bunch of canisters around the room. He didn't look much better than he did after Palm's… whatever it was he did to the kid.

Chuami grimaced. She didn't regret enlisting their help in creating a big enough distraction to attract most of the patrol teams. But perhaps she shouldn't have given in and showed them where the rebellion kept their stash.

"Get Shinra and leave," Rikku said. "I'm gonna blow this whole room to kingdom come!"

"What?" Shinra said, head swerving. He spoke slower than before, and his voice was hoarse. "No, I'm fine!"

Chuami grabbed him anyway. He was shockingly light, even for his age, enough so that Chuami easily hoisted him into her arms. "You're still recovering from that gunshot," she said. "Given how poorly you cared for it, this is no time for you to push yourself."

Rikku hissed. "Not to mention that nasty voodoo that Eight did."

"What – no…" Shinra squirmed in her grasp.

Chuami would have found it adorable if his skin didn't sheen in such a sickly way. "Where do you want to meet?" she asked Rikku.

The Al Bhed girl shrugged, pulling out what looked like a grenade. "Outside the complex would be great, but not likely. Let's try Bevelle, okay?"

"Okay. Where's Eight?"

"Blast if I know. Get going!"

Chuami took off and Shinra went limp. He glared up at her, cheeks flushed and eyes glassy. "I'm not a child."

"But you're a kid, right?" Chuami stopped to hide behind a corner as some rebels patrolled the hall up ahead. "Isn't that what you always say?"

He considered that for a moment. "You have a point. Perhaps I can get used to being hauled around like lumber."

The ground shook beneath them as a large explosion went off in the distance. "Apparently, it wasn't just a flash grenade," Chuami muttered as she watched the rebels rush off to find the source of the noise.

"Rikku doesn't like flash grenades." Shinra coughed and nestled against her. "She's not above using them, but she avoids it where possible because they don't pack enough of a punch. Prefers to keep it safe. Honestly, I'm a little concerned about giving her access to the base's entire stash of explosives."

"It'll be fine." Chuami rushed ahead, weaving through the halls and twisting around corners. With Shinra, she would have to be more careful about running into people. It would be kind of hard to fight with him in hand.

"So, is the lady here bad, then?"

"Yeah. She's kind of a jerk."

"Is she the one you beat unconscious?"

"Yup." She paused in the main foyer. "I'm honestly torn. Do you think I should kill her?"

"Killing's overrated. Better to use her as a bargaining chip."

"Good point."

"Where is she?"

"Close to here." Chuami shifted her grip on the kid and pointed. "Down that hallway."

"Eh, too far, then. Better to leave her and let it further hurt these people's morale – I betcha twenty gil they'll give up within the week."

"You're on."

* * *

Eight stumbled toward the village exit. Being outside that mansion allowed him fresh air and it felt wonderful in his lungs. Blood stuck to his arms and legs where he caught bullets, but no wounds remained. Just the annoying sticky sensation that stained his clothes.

He paused near one of the closed shops and waited for the others. The village was small enough that it would prove a horrible battleground should the city take the fight here – he hoped they could avoid the mess and get things sorted in a peace talk or whatever it was that politicians did.

Chuami and Shinra burst through the doors, the girl carrying the child.

"Rikku?" Eight asked.

"Not coming yet!" Chuami rushed toward the Thunder Plains. "We're going without her!"

Eight looked toward the mansion, where screams erupted and curses spewed. He didn't recognize any of the voices to be Rikku's.

He sent out a telepathic wave. _How is she_?

Queen's clear voice echoed back, in his head. _She'll make it out._

 _Anything from the others?_

 _Jack's wrapping up in his world._ Something crackled in his head, the sound of cutting through the timelines. _Looks like the two of you will finish together._

 _I just need to get Snow._

 _Yes. Bring him home for us, Eight._

Eight nodded to himself and ran to catch up with Chuami. Eight had started first, so Palamecia must have been a quick fix for Jack. He wondered what was holding up everyone else.

* * *

Chuami could barely walk by the time they finally reached Bevelle's gates. Apparently Eight was used to traveling distances like this, but Eight also wasn't the one carrying the possessed kid. Shinra slept fitfully in Chuami's arms, his sallow face twitching as if disturbed by an unseen force. She didn't carry him the whole way, but that thing about the gunshot wasn't wrong – the kid was struggling.

"Is this it?" Eight asked, gesturing to the large, red-trimmed road that spread before them over water. "Looks big enough."

"It is." Chuami continued forward, legs protesting every step. The Bevelle road was a large structure, stretching across the lake of water that divided them from Bevelle's main land. Separating them from that, however, was a big arch of a gate, surrounded by guards and infantrymen.

"We have wounded!" Chuami proclaimed. Shinra's eyes fluttered open briefly, a scowl forming on his face. "Oh, shut up," she said. "You can't complain about being woken up so that we can cure you."

Shinra grumbled back, "I'll find a way."

"Where from?" asked one of the infantrymen. He stepped forward and tensed his spear at his side.

"South," Chuami said. "We were taken hostage by the rebellion, but we managed to get out. And we have information that Lady Yuna will pay a good amount of gil for – including a commission to the man that lets us in."

Greed flickered in the infantryman's eyes.

"But only," Chuami said, "if you take us straight to her."

"We can't," the other infantryman said. "They've put everything on lockdown."

"Why?" Chuami asked. Shinra shifted in her grip, coming to full consciousness. Chuami set him down, breathing a sigh of relief as his weight left her arms. "What happened?"

"Unknown," said the man. "But we can get you into the main hall. I can't make any promises about a meeting, though. Perhaps you could talk to Meyvn Nooj, instead?"

Chuami opened her mouth to protest, but Eight took over at that point.

"We'll take it," he said. "Show us the room and take this boy to a medic. He's sustained a bullet wound in the side and he's been subsisting off minimal food and water for the past few weeks."

The man nodded and signaled for another group to join him. They brought a stretcher and rushed Shinra away within moments, some commenting on the concerning pallor of his skin and shallowness of his breathing.

The first guard then gestured for Chuami and Eight to enter.

"So far, so good," Chuami said as they walked along down the road. "Now I just hope that no one recognizes me."

"The odds of that happening are small," Eight noted. "Given the number of people in this city, I doubt anyone will know your face."

Chuami smirked. "Yeah, if only I wasn't a member of the Council prior to defecting. Thank Yevon people here don't tend to pay any attention to politics outside out who's Chancellor and what's happening in their particular sect."

The road was long. She'd taken it so many times in the past and added to it now were her injuries and exhaustion caused by carrying Shinra and fighting Leblanc and her goons. Eight toted some bloodied patches, but despite his claim that he incapacitated some two dozen men, Chuami couldn't make out anything more than that.

Coming back after so long, she could swear it smelled different – like something rotting.

She looked behind her. Rikku never rejoined them. Presumably, the girl knew the way to Bevelle at least as well as Chuami did, but given that Chuami didn't see her leave the complex, she couldn't help but worry that maybe she _didn't_ get out on time.

Since when did she come to care so much about her, anyway? Chuami frowned and turned her attention back to the road. She couldn't afford to worry about Rikku now. What mattered was that she got the other three out, and sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. If Rikku didn't make it, then she didn't make it, and that wasn't going to make the difference in the political situation. Chuami had to keep her priorities straight and think about Spira's future.

In which case, she had to ensure that the Counsel got the right information.

Chuami's gaze lingered on the group ahead of them carrying Shinra's stretcher, and an image of Kurgum languishing in the hospital came to mind.

Blood on the sand.

Dispelling those thoughts, Chuami turned her attention back to the road.

 _Priorities._

* * *

Baralai looked at Chuami and Eight. "The non-aggression pact…" he said weakly.

"Hey," Chuami said. "You wanted information."

"You _quit?_ " Yuna asked incredulously. "You woke up one day and decided you were _done?"_

It was late. They'd traveled all night and most of the morning to get here, as per Eight's insistence, so when they finally entered Yuna's office, bedraggled and with wounded, Chuami honestly expected a little more sympathy. Yuna had arranged for medicine and rest for Shinra, but evidently, she didn't extend that care to Chuami and Eight, whom she instead made stand before her like children being scolded for stealing coconut rounds.

"Something came up," Eight said.

"I hate to say it," Chuami said. "But that's what happened."

Yuna glared at her. "You don't exactly inspire confidence in your loyalties. Who even is this man?"

Eight shifted from foot to foot. Did he ever _not_ move? "I'm a friend. The rest isn't important."

"We can trust him," Chuami said. "He helped us out of Guadosalam."

"Fine," Yuna said. "I'll humor you. What is this information you obtained?"

Chuami's head spun at the thought of condensing it all. "Headquarters are in Guadosalam, mostly under the old mansion. After taking Djose, Leblanc's at a standstill. Her numbers fluctuate every day and she's captured more resources than she knows what to do with. I honestly don't know how she got as far as she did – she clearly has no idea what she's doing."

Yuna raised an eyebrow, though her posture remained poised. Sheesh, was she always so _stiff?_

"That's the long story short," Chuami said. "I assume you don't want to be bored with _all_ of the details?"

"No, no," said Baralai, regaining his own composure. He leaned heavily on his desk and if he looked bad before, then he could be death itself for the sheen on his skin and the redness in his eyes. "That's… that's good. But you know more?"

"I do." Everything hurt. "But I'd like to save the full report until after I sleep. And bathe. And maybe take out some frustration on the training dummies."

The door opened again and Kurgum hobbled in. "Chuami!"

He took her in a hug and Chuami winced at the pressure he put on her sore chest. She breathed in the scent of incense and flowers and never felt so glad for it.

"Just like you," she sighed, "to let the corruption of Yevon in."

Kurgum chuckled quietly. "They've been very kind. Very patient."

He pulled away. His robes held Yevon script now, its runic characters scrawled across strips of fabric that hung from his shoulders and across his belt.

"Quite an ensemble you've given him," Chuami said to Baralai. "I suppose I'll have to forgive you for it."

"After everything else?" Yuna asked. "Yes. But we'll give you some space and notify the others of an update later this evening."

Chuami forced herself to nod in thanks, though she had to swallow bile with it. "I'll see how I feel by then."

* * *

Shinra soaked in the warm bath provided to him.

He didn't realize how good water felt until he'd languished in the underground for so long. These people didn't even make him wait until others had used it. The palace was so rich, they gave him a fresh tub of hot water.

And the room they allowed him to bathe in was huge. They could have fit three baths between him and the door, but instead shelves lined the walls, full of different towels and soaps. The air smelled of strange, foreign plants, which caused Shinra to scrunch up his nose. He wasn't a big fan of whatever they were.

Evening sunlight filtered through the covered windows, lighting up the room in an orange glow. They didn't let him bathe until they'd stitched him up, and then he had to wear a tight cloth around his bullet wound.

He slipped further into the water. He hadn't heard Omega's whispers in… hours. Days? He lost track.

His eyes stung, and he felt at his mostly-healed bullet wounds. How long had it been since their fusion? Months? A year? He couldn't remember anymore. He reached a point when it felt like they'd never been apart. It was strange at first, and he remembered feeling scared of the unknown, hissing presence lurking in the back of his mind and controlling his body at strange times.

And now…

Hot tears threatened to spill over. Shinra tilted his head back, trying to dismiss the ache in his chest at the thought of never hearing her again.

And hissed when the pain in his side flared up. They had to break his healing skin to get the bullet out, and there was some issue with infection. The white mages had an appointment with him in the morning, though, and he hoped it wouldn't hurt quite so much after that.

Reluctantly he pulled himself out of the tub and found a towel to dry himself.

The people working in the palace left him a few choices in clothing, including a standard-issue children's fridge suit. Shinra skipped that one. His family called him inappropriate for choosing not to follow tradition, but he figured he fell outside of tradition when an alien from space decided to take him for a fusion vessel.

Instead he chose some plain working clothes. He wondered how they managed to find so many different styles of clothing that matched his size. But then again, he _did_ wake up in a medical gown and it wouldn't exactly be much of a stretch for them to have taken his measurements while they were busy changing him.

A sphere on the counter beeped, signaling an incoming call.

Shinra fastened on a belt and accepted the call with a click of the rim. He scrubbed at his face and hoped it wasn't super red. "Yes?"

Yuna's face appeared on the swirling surface. "Hello," she said. "How are you holding up?"

"The painkillers are working, though some more might be nice."

"Shinra, you're too young to inhale anesthetic."

"I am?"

"Yes."

Blasted sands. His body still burned with Omega's parting, and every motion hurt. "What's going on up there?"

"We're trying to figure out some things about what happened to you all and how it connects to the rebellion's bigger picture. Could you come join us in the east assembly hall when you have a chance?"

Assembly hall. The words evoked a desire to yawn and go back to sleep.

Mm, sleep.

"Do I have to?"

Yuna smiled in that _I'm not mean, I'm just more sophisticated than you_ way. "No," she said. "But it would be very beneficial to us if you could join. We'll have snacks."

Shinra paused, mulling it over. "What kind of snacks?"

"Squid jerky and Macalanian nuts."

Ugh. _Adult_ snacks. "Fine," Shinra muttered. "But only if I can get a CommSphere to play with."

"Of course!"

Shinra clicked off the communication and fingered his sleeves. The outfit still wasn't his favorite. He hoped to get a new one once he got to his room, which apparently wouldn't be until after this meeting.

With a sigh, he resigned himself to his fate and left the bathroom.

* * *

Yuna had never seen her office so full. The Council leaders in addition to her friends and a new man by the name of "Eight," all sat or stood around the room in a scattered circle with Tidus sitting on her desk to the side.

"The rebellion is on its knees," Chuami said. "It would take little more than a stone's throw to bring them toppling to the ground. And in case it wasn't fragile enough, I broke Leblanc's bones before I left, for good measure."

"Is it no longer a threat, then?" Yuna asked.

"It isn't quite that easy." Baralai paced around the room. "It would be reckless to write them off as a non-issue before we've spoken with them formally."

"Won't be a lot of chances for that." Shinra had his head resting against the desk and he fiddled with some mechanical toy he brought. His eyes and tone were dead. "I don't know about the leaders, but the grunts are all surly malcontents who've never learned to talk their issues over. Too much anger and violence drives their motives." To illustrate, he pulled at his collar to reveal healing gashes. "And that's not to mention the bullet holes, the scrapes, the bruises…"

Nooj leaned forward. "So we still need to single out Leblanc and whoever else she has in charge. Can't say that's much of an improvement."

"They should be more open to peace talks." Chuami flicked her wrist. "If nothing else."

"So," Gippal said. "What about that gate, though?"

Eight, dressed in a black uniform she'd never seen before, stepped forward. "There's one in the city of Zanarkand to the far north. I will take Snow there and together we'll leave this world to its own." He pulled out a glowing disk that floated in his hand. "Already got the key."

"That's it?" Gippal asked.

Snow folded his arms. "I assume it'll be crawling with monsters again."

"Yes," Eight said. "And they may prove problematic. But we already have the necessary artefact and between the two of us, we should be able to stave off the worst of the creatures."

"Artefact?" repeated Baralai.

"It's a key," Eight said and displayed the object in his hands, "formed by the same forces that made the gate. Without one, we would have to use Holy or some other powerful spell to break the Farplane, but we're above such brutal methods."

Tidus swung his legs back and forth. "I'm not going to ask how that works."

"Who's going?" asked Gippal with a shared look from Snow. "I've been looking for that gate for a while."

Eight pocketed the small disk. "As long as Snow comes with me, I don't care who's included. But all those reports you're worried about regarding strange animals will be dealt with by the time we're done, so you should have some investment in our success."

"We'll need more than us," Snow said. "To deal with the monsters we leave behind. Who are the best people you have?"

"Yuna," Tidus said. "And myself. Rikku, if she were here."

"Four of us, then," Snow said. "Seems like a fair number.

"Fine." Eight hopped from one foot to another. "But we'll have to leave soon. Snow's power isn't meant to be on this world, and the quicker he's out, the better off you all are."

"My power?" Snow repeated. "How's that a problem?"

Eight took a deep breath. "You're not compatible with this place," he said, "and your magic shows it. It's why so many of your spells have gone wrong."

"How did you know about that?"

Eight paused his hopping. "Who didn't see the stadium?"

The room fell quiet.

"We would have taken you sooner," Eight said, "but your body wasn't ready until you remembered, and I had trouble finding you after taking over for a friend of mine. Nine grew tired of the antics on your world and left, though not before becoming a nuisance. You would know him as Mi'ihen."

"Yeah," Chuami said, "cute. You can skip the whole 'rewriting history' thing. I've heard enough stories about that."

Eight regarded her with a cool look. "I don't expect you all to believe me – I don't need you to. I simply request that Snow comes with me to Zanarkand. If it doesn't work, then consider yourselves validated. Else, I'm out of your hair and no one's hurt."

"You've got some good fighters on your team," said Baralai. "You should make it past any monsters that bar your way."

Eight hopped again. "That will be the biggest concern. Death for me isn't an issue, but even I can be overwhelmed by the right numbers, and we can't afford for Snow to die."

Snow scoffed. "Of course not."

"It would cause issues for his ascension," Eight said. "You can't become a god if you're trapped in the realm of death."

Shinra perked up and he dragged his face off the desk. "What are you talking about?"

"It's not your concern to hear the details."

"No, no." Shinra shoved his toy away. "Omega talked about that. The realm of death. She's… been there or something."

"Omega?" Yuna asked. "That creature you defeated last year?"

"Yeah." Shinra shivered. "I think she's… kind of involved in this god stuff. She says she needs her lusee or something to revive herself. Said." He sniffled and dropped back against the desk.

"Revive?" Yuna looked at Eight. "Is this… being dead?"

Eight pressed his lips into a fine line. "Mwynn was splintered a long time ago. To bring her power back together, we need Snow."

More silence. Tidus and Yuna exchanged glances while the Council leaders looked suspicious. Chuami merely rolled her eyes and whispered to Kurgum that she was done and leaving before promptly heading out the door.

"You said Snow would become a god." Nooj narrowed his eyes. "What kind of god?"

"One over your realm," Eight said, "and others. But you won't notice the effects, so I wouldn't worry about it."

"You need a god to revive a god?" Kurgum asked.

Eight nodded.

Snow slapped his hands on his waist. "I'm not sure what that means, but I'm up to try it!"

"Needless to say-" Baralai rose- "this raises a lot of questions, assuming we were to believe you, but we can provide you with the necessary supplies to make it to Zanarkand in one piece."

"Not a whole lot to lose over there," Gippal said. "The machinery's all a bust anyway, thanks to the-"

Tidus stuck his chin out. "You've collected it, already. Stop pretending you haven't."

"Not all of it!" Gippal protested.

"Close to all of it," Yuna said. "Rikku told me about it."

"The rest of us that are staying." Kurgum looked. "We'll have to explain why Lady Yuna has left."

Tidus waved a hand. "Won't that be easy? Say she's on a diplomatic mission or something."

"I can prepare a statement," Baralai said. "Let the people know she's taking a leave for the sake of her faith. Or sanity, whichever you prefer, of course."

"Faith is fine," Yuna said. "I doubt it would change anything to say otherwise."

"They're not going to like it," Tidus said. "Yuna being gone."

"Maybe not," Baralai said, "but we'll deal with that issue when it comes. Yuna and Tidus, I expect you to two to keep an eye on Eight-" the other man didn't react to that- "and give me a full report when you get back."

"May I speak with you two and Lady Yuna?" Nooj asked, looking between Baralai and Gippal. "Alone?"

The other two agreed while Yuna perked up in surprise. "What for?"

"I'll tell you." Nooj stood and gestured for them to follow him outside. Once safely out of earshot of the door, Nooj said, "We should consider a third option. There's a chance this Eight is correct, but not our friend."

Baralai interlaced his fingers. "… I've considered that."

"What _haven't_ you considered?" Gippal put his hands behind his head. "But yes. The kid's a weirdo – how could any of this nonsense be true?"

"The stadium." Nooj gestured toward the room. "That power is beyond what any mortal should be capable of."

Yuna hummed. "Except perhaps Lulu. She could do it if she tried hard enough."

"Yes," Baralai said, "but you yourself said that you've never seen him cast a spell in all the time you've known him."

"We weren't that close," Yuna said. "He may have picked it up while I was busy with my training."

"Maybe." Nooj didn't hide his hesitation. "But the evidence seems to lean in this Eight's favor. We should form a contingency plan."

"Tidus and I will be careful," Yuna said. "We'll try not to let him out of our sight, though I suspect that won't be an issue. He appears set on this gate."

"Talk to Tidus," Nooj said. "I didn't call out the rest of your party for the sake of not letting on that we suspect him-"

Gippal chuckled. "Though he seems pretty okay with that."

"But I want all three of you to be careful." Nooj pushed against his cane and leaned back, eyes unseeing of them for a moment. "Spira can't afford to lose you now."

Yuna pursed her lips. "It certainly seems to have grown attached, hasn't it?"

"We don't like it, either," Baralai said, "But it's the truth. We lose you and we lose all we have left tethering us to the people. If you're not back within a few weeks, riots won't be far away."

"There's another matter." Nooj pulled a piece of paper from his shoulder. "You two both got one, didn't you?"

Baralai and Gippal exchanged surprised looks. "Yeah," they said in unison. Yuna looked between them They _did_ used to work in a squad together.

"'He has come as her to end his suffering,'" Gippal quoted. "Not exactly the most sensical piece of cult literature, but-"

"Wait." Baralai snatched Gippal's message from him. "'His?'"

"Yeah." Gippal cast an uneasy glance between them. "Wasn't that the same as you guys?"

Nooj held his out. "Yes."

"No." Baralai held his and Gippal's side by side. "Mine says ' _your_ suffering.'"

"A typo?" Gippal asked.

Nooj took a deep breath. "Unlikely. But I doubt this is a matter that concerns Yuna. Anything else you would like to talk about while we're here?"

"You know," Gippal said, "as evidenced by some of Yuna's recent actions and your own two possessions in the past, we've found that it's kinda difficult to force one being out of another's body. Though I don't think we've tried blunt force…"

Baralai winced at an invisible pain and handed Gippal the note back. "Blunt force doesn't work. Trust me."

"Leave that to us," Nooj said, nodding to Yuna. "We'll work together to figure something out."

Yuna's gut twisted at the idea of leaving them alone with Paine. At leaving Paine alone with them. She honestly didn't know which part of it was worse. "If she's not better by the time I'm back," Yuna said, "then I'll take responsibility."

Gippal shifted at the thought, though Baralai and Nooj kept remarkably stoic. "We'll worry about that when it happens," Nooj said. "For now, let's focus on getting through the next few weeks."

They returned to the room to find most of the occupants chatting amiably. Only Eight didn't participate in the conversation, and he didn't seem to register that the others had returned before Yuna came his way.

"Tell me one thing," she said. "Why are you talking to us about it? What do you have to gain from helping this world?"

He looked at her with a surprising intensity in his eyes. "It's my job to get people to work together. By showing you all the war outside this planet, I want you to find synergy amongst yourselves again."

Yuna smiled. And hoped he was honest about that.


	19. Chapter 19

The dream was different tonight. He didn't see the pink-haired girl or her sister. He didn't see idyllic scenery with plains of flowers or towering trees formed of alien fluff. He missed the warm touch of friends he never knew and the euphoria that accompanied the battles they won together.

Instead, he found himself in the dingy light of a small bedroom, sparsely furnished with only the humblest bed, desk, and bookshelf. He sat on the wooden ground with a rug underneath him, the hard-walled foot of a bed behind him, and a white-haired, young man collapsed in his arms. Snow felt an overwhelming sadness, the weight of it crushing his lungs and making it hard to breathe. It smelled of must and neglect, and Snow could make out the faint hint of alcohol.

It took seconds for him to recognize this place as the home of his dear, young friend that held the weight of two worlds on his shoulders.

"I see her," Hope rasped, body trembling against his. Despite Hope's age having surpassed his own before the time crash, Snow couldn't see him as anything more than a boy, one whose body wasted away into skin and bones, his emaciated figure providing no weight for Snow to hold onto, and his mind showing no sense of common reason to follow anymore.

"Lightning isn't in here," Snow told him, voice barely audible to his own ears. "It's just me."

Hope sobbed, gripping Snow around the shoulders and fighting his hold. "This is a dream," he gasped. "This isn't real. Not real…"

Snow pulled Hope tight against him, then leaned back, closed his eyes, and rocked Hope to sleep. There wasn't much to do once he reached this point, though the intervals between sleep and his hallucinations were growing shorter every day.

"I'm sorry, Lightning," Hope said, voice scratchy as he buried his face further into Snow's shoulder. "I didn't save you from Cocoon. I wasn't there with you. I'm sorry."

"None of us were," Snow told him. He remembered begging and pleading for Hope to remember, but over time he gave up reasoning with the kid. "We did what we could," he said, thinking of Serah and the sparkle in her eyes he would never see again. "We tried everything."

"I didn't try _hard enough_!" Hope gasped and sucked in breath after breath, as if drowning. "But-…!"

Snow put his head back against the foot of the bed and closed his eyes. This would pass, he knew, but every time it hurt like someone wormed a small knife into his heart and left it embedded there. Every beat brought a sharp, stinging pain. "Shh," he said, continuing to rock. "Shhh."

"Please," Hope managed despite the coarseness of his voice and the violent, racking motions that every word brought him. He struggled against Snow's grip, but his strength felt no better than that of a small child. Snow felt hot tears prick his eyes, but he'd stopped crying over it long ago. If he didn't force Hope to stay still, it wasn't uncommon for him to find ways to hurt himself or get lost in a large building.

Hope's voice died to a whisper. "Please, Snow," he begged, voice broken and hoarse. "I have to do what she tells me."

Snow opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came from his throat. Hope fell limp in his arms, defeat taking over. Snow relaxed his grip, allowing Hope to settle more comfortably against him. Hope's gasping turned to quiet sobs, causing his bony shoulders to rub against Snow with every motion.

"I'm sorry," Snow managed past the lump constricting his throat.

Eventually, the sobs died and turned into rough breaths, which in turn changed to rhythmic breathing. Snow picked the kid up and laid the emaciated body on the bed before pulling up the covers. Snow sat beside him for a while, eyes drooping while Hope's face twisted and his eyes darted about under the lids. Snow couldn't remember the last time he'd seen him sleep for real.

Containing various cuss words, Snow stood and rolled his shoulders in their sockets to work out the kinks before leaving the room to call Noel and update him.

The call itself blurred in the dream, and Snow next found himself sitting outside with the hunter, watching the sun set on another day. The light was dim, the sun sunken far into the horizon, and he was overcome with the scent of roses. There bloomed a whole field before him and Noel, and he wondered at the bitter irony of it being by Hope's office building.

The roses Hope saw every day, that convinced him his hallucinations were real.

Noel took a swig from his metal bottle – Snow didn't know the contents – and released a heavy breath. "To us," he quipped, an edge of anger unmistakable in his voice. "To the rise of Nova, may she reign forever."

"We'll find Hope," Snow said. "He couldn't have gotten far. The authorities, they'll… they'll find him."

"That's a lie," Noel said, taking another sip, "and you know it."

Snow grit his teeth. "We can't give up on this."

"No." Noel slammed his bottle on the step and it dented. "No, we can't. And that's the thing. That's the way it's always been, and that's the way it'll always be. Screw us, right?"

Snow took Noel's deformed bottle and gulped down a mouthful. The substance stung his tongue and his throat, leaving a burning sensation trailing down his system. "To us." He raised a bottle. "What is this stuff?"

Noel shrugged and took it back. "Something I learned back in my old world. Or, the new one. The place that we specifically prevented from happening, maybe? What's even up with that? How does time travel work?"

Snow nudged him with his boot. "The drink. How do you make it?"

"Oh." Noel shook his head. "Now, see, the sage was the one who taught me. Not much to live for, you know, when it's so obvious none of you are going to live to see your grandkids. Couldn't afford to let it affect our hunting abilities the next day, in case we find something worth eating, but it helped to have something to knock you out at the end. It's about, what, thirty-percent gysahl alcohol, something-percent juice. Any kind of juice. Your merchants in Yusnaan have just the right stuff to mix it. I'll have to tell you sometime."

"What are you going to tell the people?" Snow asked.

Noel shook his head so fast, Snow was half afraid he'd break his neck. "I'm not," he said. "This Order of Salvation crap – they pounced on the rumors a long time ago. Before, at least, Hope was still sort of alive. Now, with him gone, there's nothing to stop them from taking over. They want anarchy? Fine. They'll have it. I'll just… I don't know. I can't stop them, but maybe I'll talk to those that believe me. If there's any left. You?"

"I'll go back to Yusnaan," Snow said. "Try to keep that part of the world under control, at least."

"Good." Noel stood, though he wobbled a little. "Go ahead and run back to the hole you came from."

"Hey!" Snow stood with him. "You _know_ it's not like that! What are you doing, huh?"

Noel gave him a dead look. "You lost Hope. It's fine. I understand not wanting to take responsibility."

"Says the one who's supposed to be his bodyguard," Snow said. "You're drunk. And for that I won't punch your face in for what you said."

"Honestly, I'd like to see you try." Noel wandered off, and that was the last Snow would see of him for years.

The scenery changed to a glittering city full of life and light. The contrast between it and Luxerion reminded Snow that Luxerion wasn't his fault. He was in charge of Yusnaan, and they were doing fine.

That was around the same time he started up the tournaments, he thought, wandering through the glimmering streets.

"Patron!" some would call, shouting his name like a triumph. "Thank you!"

Snow spent the night wandering about the city in a daze. The city didn't sleep, as evidenced by the cafes and shops that kept their lights on through until the morning. He tasted champagnes and wines, stopping by the occasional restaurant to goad them into letting him try their samples. He showed off his power a little, beating back opponents with his stolen spells and failing to boast because it never felt like winning to him.

And then, after the first couple nights of blaming himself for losing Hope, he returned to his palace and didn't leave again for almost two centuries.

It was easy to lose track of time when time didn't exist.

Eventually, Lightning came and snapped him out of his reverie. She reminded him of Serah, whose name he was ashamed to utter after so long. She wouldn't approve of his lack of action, even if there was nothing for him to do.

When the world was freed from its physical form, Snow soared triumphantly through the skies and found himself again with Lightning, Fang, Vanille, Sazh, Noel, and even Hope, whose form had returned to that of a child.

Snow wouldn't complain after seeing him before he disappeared.

And then Serah appeared. All the doubt and worry he held over this transition fled him and he only thought of having her near his side, her hands in his, as they started their new journey.

The exodus toward the new world was one of optimism and the highest energies. He didn't know how long they traveled, but it only felt like moments for the time he spent with his friends. His allies. His companions. His family. Serah.

But he knew that it didn't last long enough. He did know that they weren't supposed to be interrupted. He knew that the inhuman roar of a trapped god wasn't supposed to throw them off-course.

He knew that he wasn't supposed to end up alone on an ocean planet full of colorful church robes and splintered towns. He knew that he wasn't supposed to learn what it meant to live with Sin, and that civil war would break out years after the monster was killed.

He knew that he wasn't supposed to find another life on Spira.

 _Snow!_ Snow!

He woke to a warm dawn. He was still on Spira, even though he didn't belong on Spira. And Snow wasn't a strange name.

It was his _real_ name. He was Snow Villiers, born on Cocoon, raised on Cocoon, and leader of Yusnaan, the city of light. He was engaged to the beautiful and kind Serah Farron.

Her sister, Lightning Farron, was going to kill him.

Snow shook. He didn't belong. He knew it, ever since he joined the Aurochs, but he didn't want to accept it.

Grasping blankets in his fist to calm himself, Snow swallowed. He was Snow Villiers. He was a Blitzball player. He was the Patron. He was both.

He was Snow. He may have been Snow Villiers. He may have been engaged to a woman for a millennium.

He was Snow. He was the newest member of the Besaid Aurochs.

He was Snow Villiers. And he had a hundred promises to fulfill, the most important of which being that he had to go find his fiancée one more time.

* * *

"It's time to go!" Snow announced, bursting into Tidus' room and causing the kid to pull his sheets further over himself.

"Lemme sleep," came the murmured reply.

Snow strode forward. "Not today!" he said. "You'll have to catch up later."

"I thought we were leaving tomorrow!" Tidus protested, voice heavy. "Whatever happened to that plan?"

"The plan's outdated." Snow ripped off the covers. "The universe is in danger, and we're the only ones that can save it!"

"I don't _wanna_ save it!" Tidus grabbed for his blanket, though he kept his eyes shut. "Ugh! Why!"

Snow balled the blankets into a wad of cloth and yanked the curtains open. "Rise and shine, blitz boy!"

Tidus finally opened his eyes, though hatred seethed in their depths. "Fine. But you owe me big time."

"And I'll pay you back," Snow said, "with an intact world and stable planetary system."

"Planetary system," Tidus repeated, turning to lay flat on his back. "What even is that?"

Snow dropped the blankets on the floor and made for the door. "I'll explain later. Get dressed."

"Have I told you lately how much I hate you?"

Snow waved a hand behind him. "Nope! Tell me on the way."

* * *

The cell they kept Paine in was small and confining, but she found that she didn't care. After all, she couldn't even control herself, and if her body proved its own prison, how could anything else prove _more_ constrictive than her own physical cage?

Bhunivelze woke slowly inside her, his grip on her body reviving. He had a new plan. And it involved leaving this cell.

Paine watched, trapped inside her own body as it moved. She pulled herself to her feet, hands gripping the iron bars holding her back. Bhunivelze disintegrated them in the blink of an eye, iron turning to dust in Paine's hands.

She was sickeningly relieved at the prospect of this all ending. She should have felt regret and sorrow… or, at least more of it. She wanted to move knowing it was her own desire to do so. But she wasn't going to do it the way she expected. She thought when she would be free again, it would be because He was killed and gone.

But no. She couldn't see His mind or his intentions, but it was clear He didn't need her anymore. He would probably free Himself by killing her.

She wondered if this was how Nooj and Baralai felt. It would be interesting to ask them. Probably stupid, too, but it wasn't like that would matter for much longer.

Just to be sure she wouldn't die empty-handed, she pushed against His mind one last time. Only to get vague flashes of past vessels and worlds, the most recent one being the purple-haired lady that transferred Him to Paine.

Useless information.

Bhunivelze took her through Bevelle's palace halls, down toward the councilmen's personal chambers. Paine waited, as she learned to do when the god took over. She'd fought in the past, screamed and cursed and _hated_ with everything she had, and yet nothing worked. There was little one could do when something else got inside their head and took all control.

The Council's section of the palace was surprisingly small. Baralai apparently had gone to great lengths to keep those working under him from taking great portions of the large building. It was renowned for its beauty, and there were countless individuals that would do any number of shady things to claim more of its luxury and fine things for themselves.

The room Paine stopped at was dark when she opened the door. She didn't turn on the light. That would alert whoever it was that was in here. But then, maybe Bhunivelze wanted her to die this way, taken out by some nameless soldier sleeping in the barracks.

Wait.

She knew this room. Baralai's chambers.

Paine panicked as she moved inside and kneeled near the bed. She summoned a glow in her hand that lit a sleeping figure in its soft light. He had a habit of making sources of light where he needed them. But then, light _was_ his domain.

The figure's breathing stopped. Paine watched, waiting for them to react. It would happen. Something inside her knew it would. _Wanted_ it to.

Paine wanted to apologize. She didn't want Baralai to endure the same thing that she did. Having her body taken and controlled by an otherworldly creature was not on her list of favorite things she'd experienced.

"What are you doing?" he whispered, pulling himself into a sitting position. He didn't look at all like he'd been sleeping – his clothes were too neat and his expression too alert.

"I'm taking you with me." Her stomach churned at the distortion in her voice.

"We made a mistake, didn't we?" The defeat in his voice wrenched at Paine's heart.

She nodded, reaching out her hand. "But don't fret, my child. Eternity awaits you."

"What does that mean?"

"It is not something that I can translate into the weak and common tongue – you'll see for yourself."

Realization dawned in his drooping eyes. "Paine! You're 'her!' But that means-…"

Paine saw panic shadow his face for the briefest second before her bare hand touched his. A rush of emotion and incomprehensive thought filled her mind and she could only watch as the alien consciousness left her and broke through Baralai's defenses. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could swear it had grown stronger since it first took her all those weeks ago.

Something cracked in the distance.

In what felt like ages stuffed into a single moment, Paine thumped head-first into the mattress, lightheadedness overwhelming her while her fingers turned numb.

"Ah." Baralai stood to his full height. "Much better." His dulcet tones warped with Bhunivelze's influence and soul crystals sparkled in the air, an aftereffect of the change. Paine reached out a shaking hand to take one and it glimmered at her touch before dispersing into her skin.

Paine struggled to breathe as her body went unresponsive. Against the haze in her brain, she hissed, "Get. _Out_."

He ignored her and moved to pace around the room. "This puppet has clearer eyes," he said. "I can see so much more through his light. And it feels… bigger. Better-fitted."

She knew that the consciousness didn't truly _reside_ in the body – it merely used it like a sailor used binoculars. It didn't delve deep into thoughts or meddle in personal affairs. Sometimes it used it more idly than others, leaving Paine to try to subtly repair some of the damage in a way that didn't alert it back to her awareness.

 _Tried so hard. So hard. The messages, written in his voice, in a dialect he wouldn't–_

"This… this will do."

Paine couldn't help a wry chuckle. "Won't find any purer than Baralai," she said, though she didn't feel like it was herself speaking. The feeling had grown all too alien. "He's a frickin' choco chick."

"The Yuna girl," Baralai said. "She would have served me far better. Alas, the sphere didn't work like it was supposed to, and Leblanc didn't have a way to get to the Summoner like she could to this one. Ah, yes, this self-proclaimed leader – so fragile. So workable."

Apparently, gods didn't understand sarcasm. Paine lolled her head against the disorientation, trying to find a way to ground herself again. Sleep threatened to overtake her, but she kept her attention on Baralai's voice, trying to conjure up the anger she knew she should be feeling to help fuel her drive to remain conscious.

"Soon…" Baralai sucked in a deep, satisfied breath, "… this world will join my dominion. I shall enact my laws as a constant throughout the universe and finally this dimension shall come to know order and peace. Light shall break over every planet and every star system and they shall once again praise my name."

"Yeah," Paine scoffed, voice embarrassingly small and weak. "Keep telling yourself that."

"Those children masquerading as gods couldn't even keep their own alive," he whispered. "How could they pretend to take my place? But never mind. It is of little import."

He then turned and left.

Paine should have found that strange, but she couldn't think beyond the stuffy feeling in her head and the heaviness of her eyelids. _I'm sorry, Yuna,_ she thought. _My body won't... I'll go chase after the monster as soon… as soon as I can stand again._

Soon…


	20. Chapter 20

The mountain of Gagazet was a refreshing sight to Tidus, who hadn't seen its snow-covered peaks and ledges for almost a year now. They all wore coats to accompany the cold trip through the mountain's unyielding paths and were promptly greeted by Kimahri and a small group of his elders.

"Welcome," he said. "The Ronso open their home to friends."

"I'm glad." Yuna threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've missed you, Kimahri."

"I can get used to this." Snow kicked at the snow gathering around his feet. "It feels normal again."

Eight looked up toward the top of the mountain, neck craning.

"Guado and Ronso not friends." Kimahri guided them along the mountainside. "Bargain was struck, but both Guado and Ronso still too few. If not careful, we will disappear from this world."

Yuna stuck close to her friend, listening with rapt and solemn attention. Behind her, Tidus fell in step beside Snow and Eight.

"I haven't been here in forever," he said. "It's kind of strange."

"Yeah," Snow said. "Winter's a strange concept here."

"Is it different where you come from?"

Snow nodded. "Depending where you come from."

"Bevelle gets cold," Tidus said. "Especially in the winter. But snow doesn't happen in most places."

They passed over a ridge barely large enough for two people, which prompted Tidus to cling to the wall. Snow passed more comfortably to his side, but with enough space between him and the ledge that Tidus didn't have to worry about him tripping.

"The last time I was here," Tidus said as they crossed a bridge of sorts, "was right before I was told that I'm not supposed to exist."

He said it as a joke, but Snow and Eight both glanced at him without remarking on it.

"It isn't normal," said Minwu, "for someone to die and come back like you have. I doubt they understand. But then again, in a sense, they both understand far better than you might think."

Tidus wanted to ask him about the whole "Snow is a god" thing, but he didn't dare say anything out loud and Minwu wasn't the greatest at reading his thoughts. Also, it would be nice to know if Eight was going to stab them in the back.

Minwu blinked, but as expected didn't appear to understand.

"Hey, Kimahri," Tidus asked, joining him and Yuna. "Have you been having any issues with people coming this way?"

Kimahri shook his head. "Very few humans pass through mountain."

Yuna glanced at Tidus, picking up on his meaning. "But there've been some? In the past year?"

"Some."

"Anyone we know?" Tidus asked.

Kimahri shook his head. "Only Summoner boy and a family. The rest looked normal. All pay their respects and leave. Don't stay long in Zanarkand before returning here."

"Paine hasn't been through?" Yuna asked.

"No."

Yuna and Tidus exchanged glances. "The gate should still be up then," Yuna said. "That's good news."

Tidus glanced behind them. "Supposedly."

It was late enough that that Kimahri offered them a cozy cave before departing, leaving just enough room for the four of them plus a small fire in the center that was contained in a dug-out pit. The snow outside drifted lazily from gray clouds that hung over the mountain like a hazy ceiling.

"I'd say I'm ready to sleep," Snow said, "but I'm not."

Eight looked at him. "Why not?"

"It didn't go so well the other night," Snow said. "The last memory I relived was more of a downer."

"So, don't sleep." Tidus took a spot near the fire and beside Yuna. "We'll all go on without you."

Snow laid down, nestling into his cloak and using his travel pack for a pillow. He yawned, "Nah. I've survived worse."

"Zanarkand," Yuna sighed, leaning into Tidus. She smelled like tea and drying ink. "It's been a little while."

"Yeah." Tidus warmed at her proximity, at her scent.

Eight left the cave and paused to hop from one foot to the other in that strange manner of his. He never slept, Tidus noticed. Weird guy. "Are you really a god?" Tidus called.

Eight stilled for a moment and turned to look at them both. "Of a sort. We're yet incomplete without the rest of Mwynn's power."

"So," Yuna said, "You'll kill a goddess to obtain her power?"

Eight shook his head. "She's already dead. We're tracking down the pieces and putting them to use." He returned to pacing.

"Well," Tidus said. "He's not exactly encouraging."

Yuna nestled closer to him. "We'll see."

"Worst case scenario," Tidus said, "we throw Snow under the bus." He looked to the other man, but Snow snored with sleep. "Figures. I thought that would be funny."

"I don't like this," Yuna said. "It's Sin all over again – we're giving ourselves up to a power higher than ourselves simply because there's nothing else to do."

"He might be right. Maybe this is what the universe needs."

"This might be exactly what the universe _doesn't_ need." Yuna pursed her lips. "Why do these mountains always do this to me? I can't stay focused when I'm this close to the city."

Minwu's words about Spira being exceptional for its infusion with dead spirits rang back to Tidus. And Zanarkand was the center of it. "… It's not just you."

"What are you thinking?"

He stared off into the snow for a moment and studied the carefree flurries billowing about against the mountain face, reminding him of Seymour's gloating. Of the Ronso's massacre. At length, he shook his head, said, "Nothing."

"It can't be nothing," she murmured, placing a hand on his cheek. "It's strange. The last time we were here together, things were so different."

The snow outside swirled in a mad dance, disturbing the mountain's coat and sending it billowing down the trail.

Tidus leaned in and Yuna closed her eyes as his lips met hers. They barely grazed each other before Tidus pulled away again.

Yuna placed her other hand behind his neck, stopping him with opened eyes that revealed the startling blue and green of each. He saw worry behind them.

"It'll be fine," she whispered, showing a small smile.

Tidus moved his head in the barest notion of a nod before she kissed him again and rested her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and pretended for a moment like he could hold her forever.

"We've received grave news," Minwu said, appearing as he did. "Bhunivelze has not only swapped vessels, but he's moved to another world."

Tidus threw his head back. "Would you give me five seconds?"

"What?" Yuna pulled back. "Are you all right?"

Tidus groaned. "Yeah. Just dead spirits talking to me again. Minwu, do you know who and where?"

"Negative." Minwu faded away again. His voice echoed, "Your world is notably safer now, though."

"Of all the…" Tidus released Yuna and bunched up his travel pack to use as a pillow. "Minwu says Paine isn't possessed anymore, but they don't know who and where got the spirit instead."

Yuna pursed her lips in thought. "Paine is better?"

"Maybe?" Tidus burrowed into his cloak. It wasn't any hotel room, but he'd slept in worse conditions. "No idea. It seems Minwu and Eight's resources aren't exactly all-seeing. They just kinda feel stuff, like spirits moving about. Can't track them directly, I don't think."

"That's something to see when we get back." Yuna took her spot beside him.

Tidus snorted. "I can only hope it wasn't someone important."

Yuna gave him a reprimanding look, but even she couldn't hide a small smile. "That's terrible to say."

"Yeah, I guess." Tidus closed his eyes. "But true."

Yuna didn't respond, though she nestled up close to him again and he lost himself in the warmth of her.

Was it true that there were worlds out there that weren't so accustomed to losing people? Where they didn't only care about each loss, so long as it wasn't a friend?

 _Yes_ , came Minwu's distant whisper. _There are._

Tidus fell asleep with those words in his head.

* * *

Rikku never thought Bevelle would become such a welcome sight. Yet here she was, walking down the palace's long hallways that were illuminated in stark whites and golds and adorned in crisp, red colors. Despite the strong smell of incense, there was still something… odd mixed in with the scent. Kinda like the invasion back Home.

Getting captured by the rebellion, while it wasn't the greatest thing she'd done on Spira, in and of itself wasn't the worst thing ever. The worst thing ever, as she experienced, was being cut off from the light for days on end. Even after they broke out, she had to wind her way through Guadosalam and then the Thunder Plains, neither of which leant a lot of light to see by. And Bevelle shone as bright as its priests liked to make themselves look.

She had started to wonder what it would be like to step out into the sun again. Growing up with it in Bikanel, she'd gotten so used to it that the Thunder Plains proved terrifying not only for the thunder itself. And now she squinted in the bright noonday, even inside the palace. The windows were too big, she surmised.

But Bevelle. She _hated_ Bevelle. She hated how it represented every injustice to her race – every captured Al Bhed, every brother or sister of hers that was imprisoned without a fair trial or expelled from the mainland.

She would have to fight down a lot of bile by the time she left this place. For now, however, there was a certain young twit she had to find.

"Heyo!" Rikku yelled, dancing into the room where they said Shinra would be. "Miss me?"

He didn't look up from some spheres he was working with. "No."

" _Really_?" Rikku poked Shinra in the shoulder. She didn't miss the silvery, sometimes blackish and vein-like marks that branched across his face. "Are you _sure_ about that?"

"Yes."

"I betcha you're lying!"

"It took you long enough, too," Shinra said, "I was ready to hope you were dead."

"Not even close." Rikku placed her hands behind her head, though the motion aggravated a few of the bruises and scrapes caused by the trip. "I couldn't die when I still have to show you up. Geez, you can't even be bothered to wear your suit in Bevelle?"

He shook his head. "Omega liked it this way."

"It's inappropriate!"

Shinra huffed and folded his arms against his robe. "It's free and I can breathe now."

"Fine," Rikku said. "But I'm not responsible if we get complaints from the public about a kid walking around the Bevelle palace without his suit."

"You won't get complaints."

"You're _not_ killing those that see you!"

"I can't do that anymore. But you won't get complaints. Anyway, Gippal wants me to spell the guards in the correctional facility. Maybe you can try to get in my way as I do that."

"You betcha."

They moved down the correctional sect that led to the prisons, though apparently they weren't going that far today. Shinra stayed close to her side, dressed in the strange robes of Yevon's believers. He assured her that he hadn't converted and that it was simply the only thing they had to clothe him in after his stuff was destroyed in Djose and then again in Guadosalam. He claimed he tried worker clothes, but they scratched and itched in ways he couldn't stand.

She believed him for now.

"This 'rebellion' is certainly winding down," Rikku told him along the way. "They're like tired children after a long tantrum. Without Leblanc to fuel the fire, the number of attacks on neighboring settlements have decreased by leaps and bounds. Spira's actually looking _good_ again out there."

Shinra expressed a certain lack of surprise. "They weren't exactly built to last, you know. Did you _see_ their systems while we were there? Amateurs."

The containment office they found was full of VidSpheres. Rikku had never been in here, though she immediately found herself liking it. Watching over these people without most of them realizing it felt like a whole lot of power. And Rikku liked power.

"Where's the guard?" Shinra asked, glancing about. Rikku threw herself into the chair facing the spheres and propped her legs up on the table.

"On break. That's why we're here, you said."

Shinra frowned at that.

Rikku craned her neck back over the chair's rest. The lamps hanging from the walls were half-out, causing an uncomfortable darkness.

"Light those, will you?" Rikku gestured at the lamps.

Shinra muttered something under his breath that Rikku didn't care to hear before he shuffled around the room, peeking under nooks and crannies.

"What are you doing?" Rikku observed the behaviors of some bored-looking prisoners. There were others pacing about in agitation or banging on the bars, but she ignored those – a part of her expected that the angry ones were the ones that deserved it the most.

"Where's the lighter?" Shinra asked. "Don't they keep one here?"

"They should. Keep looking."

He ruffled through a couple more things. "It's not here."

"Oh." Rikku pushed away from the desk. "Is cell 5 supposed to be empty?"

Shinra looked to her with a flat expression. "What?"

"Look." Rikku gestured to the labeled screen. "It says it's supposed to hold an unknown specimen, but it's empty."

"Oh." Shinra stood and joined her. "That's a problem."

"What's the unknown specimen? Another of your weirdo fiends?"

Shinra's rubbed at his eyes. "No. They're all safe in the dungeons. Got a new litter coming from my coerls, too. No, Paine was supposed to be in that cell."

Rikku shoved away from the desk. "Paine _what_?"

"Yeah, she got possessed a while back and they detained her. I don't know the details, but she tried to kill Yuna or something."

A voice came from the doorway, "I _was_ possessed."

She flipped out of her seat to see Paine, one hand on her hip.

Rikku yelped and pulled daggers from holsters on her thighs. "Oi! You don't touch us or I cut you! Get it?"

"Rikku." Paine folded her arms. "We have more pressing matters to worry about."

"The pressing matter being that I have a child here to protect!"

Shinra shook his head. "I don't need protecting."

With a sigh, Paine strode forward. Rikku tensed, ready for her to get just close enough to-

Paine _flashed_ into arm's reach and flicked Rikku on the forehead. "Let's go. The thing left me and took Baralai."

Rikku took a moment to process that. Then groaned and grabbed Shinra by the hand. "Fine. Fine! This is really gonna suck, though, isn't it?"

Paine left the observatory and Rikku followed, Shinra in tow. "The moment the media finds out," Paine said, "it will _definitely_ suck."

"I swear. I left you all alone for a few days! And what has happened since then?"

"Yuna's gonna be back soon, though." Shinra struggled to keep up with them with his smaller legs. "Right?"

"Yes," Paine said, "but that won't save Gippal."

"What's wrong with Gippal?" Rikku asked as they made their way through the palace.

"Leblanc," Paine said, "she may not have mentioned the Crimson Squad last time, but it's only a matter of time before someone else finds out. At this point, even Nooj is prone to be suspect. Baralai might actually be better off gone."

"I thought you all cleaned up after yourself?"

Paine slowed her pace from running to not-quite-running. Rikku couldn't help noticing a bunch of cool, new scars the other girl had picked up, some of which looked pretty fresh. They littered her exposed skin, showing between gaps of black leather… and they looked a _lot_ like Shinra's with that vein-like pattern.

"We did, but Baralai also covered his history with Seymour, and Gippal wasn't exactly careful with his new stores. Word travels, Rikku, and it travels faster than any of us can afford right now."

"So, they find out you're connected," Rikku said, "and they assume Baralai's leaving is part of… what? A conspiracy?"

"I don't know, but they'll find a way to taint the reality to better match their own perceptions. And when they do, we're the ones that will pay the price."

"Ugh," Rikku groaned as Paine ran again. "When am I going to catch a break, huh? Haven't I earned one of those by now? Geez, this is what we get for criminals becoming world leaders!"

"They weren't criminals," Shinra said, his smaller legs pumping twice as hard as theirs.

Rikku rolled her eyes. "You should get back to doing whatever weird things it is you do! I'm gonna go save Bevelle!"

"You're the one gripping my hand!"

"So?"

"Both of you shut up," Paine said. "You're giving me a headache."

"What are we even going to do?" Rikku asked. "Change the mind of the public?"

Paine scowled. "I haven't decided yet."

"Why is that such a common theme?" Rikku shook her head. "Oh, well. I guess it hasn't failed us yet."

* * *

Zanarkand always struck a chord in Tidus that he didn't consider entirely welcome. It was his home first, and now it had turned into nothing but a graveyard for the Summoners of the past. Were it not for Auron, even Yuna would have died in its depths.

Tidus shivered, trying to ignore the pyreflies swarming the place as they crossed the bridge leading into the city itself. It smelled of death, but not in the acrid way he associated with the bodies of Mi'ihen. It was wispier, like morning fog, and not quite real. It felt like he'd stepped into the ghostly paths of the Farplane.

"Where's the gate?" Snow asked.

Eight gestured. "Ahead. I found it in the large dome in the center of the city, toward the bottom. There's a lot of corrupted monsters, though. We'd best be on our guard."

"Consider it done," Tidus said. "I don't think I could ever feel relaxed in this place, anyway."

"Yeah," said Snow. "This is eerie."

Yuna found his hand and Tidus gripped it tight as they crossed the ruined bridge. Sunset fell, lighting up the misty path in blood-red hues and causing the pyrefly ghosts to glow.

"Wait." Eight held up a hand. They stilled and listened to the distant rustle and chitter of the ruins that echoed faintly like a hungry beast.

Something scraped across the ground before a doglike creature stepped into the light of the sun from under a small shelter formed of broken pieces of metal. At the sight of them, it howled and crouched low, baring its teeth in a snarl.

Tidus didn't miss the fact that its body was stained black in a shining, tarlike substance while glowing, blue lines crisscrossed its sides. And it was impossibly skinny, like two machines had flattened it from both sides.

Within moments, countless howls joined it and a small hoard of creatures of all shapes and sizes followed. Some looked like birds hiding in robes, others like sentient machines. And all showed that same gloss to their skin.

"This is the right place!" Snow shouted, engaging the mutts.

Yuna and Tidus fell in side by side, the former preparing light spells while Tidus slashed at every creature that dared approach.

"This way!" Eight called, punching and dodging through the mass.

Tidus cursed, cutting down an overgrown frog. "Wait up!"

Yuna refreshed him with a healing spell and Tidus took off after Eight, slicing blackened monsters out of the way. Every cut released a spurt of blood and the lingering scent of charred metal.

"How much further?" Snow asked, throwing up a barrier of ice around them and halting the flow of creatures their way.

Eight didn't respond as he guided them through the city entrance.

Tidus buried his sword in the body of a lizard creature with wings. "No, really!" he said. "I don't know much of more of this blood I can take! It smells awful!"

"You've seen worse." Yuna touched him with more white magic.

One of the creatures took Tidus from behind, forcing him to the ground. "I have!" he managed as he wrestled around to face his attacker – another canine, this one with eyes that glistened coal-black. He struggled to keep its snapping jaw away from him. "But this isn't much better!"

An icicle blasted the thing from the side and sent it flying across the ground, bleeding a dark, oily substance. "We'll make it," Snow said and helped him to his feet.

Eight jumped off the edge of the rail leading down, landing himself at the bottom of the station. "Down here!" he called to them.

"Alrighty." Snow readied himself. "Here goes nothing!"

"Right ahead of you!" Tidus shouted, leaping straight down while bestial cries rang out behind him. As he fell, the air phased near him and he saw Yuna change to the Psychic garb.

Before they reached the bottom, Yuna slowed both their descents and allowed Tidus to land a little more gracefully than he might have otherwise. Snow spun in the air and slammed into the ground fist-first, sending a shockwave rippling through the air and knocking Tidus off-balance.

"Bad news." Eight held out the artefact. "This was for the other gate."

Ahead of him, Tidus found what they called a "gate." A massive orb of trapped, dancing light sat inside a revolving cage of metal that was formed of rings. The whole thing sat atop a small pedestal that stuck proudly in the ground and held the whole thing aloft.

Snow swore. "It's _what_?"

Eight shook his head. "I can't take you through the gate without the right key. If I take a moment to talk to King, or-"

"Wait." Yuna stepped forward and changed back to a white mage in a small burst of light. "I think I have an idea."

Eight gave her a pointed look. "If you plan to jump through, it's not going to work."

"Yeah," Snow said. "These things are very picky about the how and the who, you know."

Yuna turned away from them. "It's not that."

* * *

A howl ripped through the air and a dog crashed into the ground near them. Creatures descended the ramps and walls like insects. The men leaped into action, fending it off while Yuna looked at the gate.

It emitted a whisper of sound, like the faint murmuring of water over rocks. She thought she could hear a hum in there, like in the temples and Farplane. The Farplane, that allowed travel from otherworldly people and cosmic journeyers.

The Farplane, that held its weakest barriers here in Zanarkand.

She called upon the divine through habit only to find the emptiness left by her aeons three years ago. Instead, she focused her energy on summoning her white magic. Her veins pulsed faster and heavier, her body resisting. It wasn't meant to work with so much magic at once.

And yet, she still reached for the impossible.

Ghosts lingered near her despite the monsters snapping their jaws and charging at such speed she thought they had to be machines. "Milady," said one image of a young boy, "what are you doing?"

She knew the apparition to be fake, so she didn't respond. Her veins burned with the power of the white magic gathering inside her, and her head pounded with the force of her heartbeat.

"Yuna!" called Tidus. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes!" She pulled yet more mana from her reserves, focusing it all into one spell. It had been done since the beginning of time and it was something that spanned the worlds. If Eight was to be believed, there was no reason why she couldn't imitate the works of the old mages.

Yuna screamed and released Holy.

The mutts howled as the spell engulfed the arena in white mist that blew out in an explosion of expended mana.

People shouted behind her, but the spell didn't touch her clothes or interact with her skin. The heatless burn of magic didn't affect her like it would those around her, and Yuna took advantage of that by walking among the dying monsters that cried out as she passed. The air itself seemed to rip and tear about her as pyreflies poured in from breaks in reality.

"I could have warned you," Eight called her way. "Using such a high-intensity spell around here is dangerous to the fabric holding the dead world back from the living one!"

"We already covered that in Bevelle!" Tidus called back. "So, we'll have more dead to Send. Big deal!"

Snow scrambled closer to Eight whilst fighting off a twisted behemoth. "Will this work?"

Eight hesitated, but slowly nodded. "It'll take us where we need to go."

"Tidus? Yuna?" Snow looked to them. "Handle the rest?"

"Of course!" Tidus stuck his sword in one of the canines after it twitched. "What else are we for, huh?"

"Thanks!" Snow broke the behemoth's neck. "I'll miss you guys!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Tidus pointed Brotherhood Snow's way. "Get going, will you?"

Eight stepped up to a wall near the gate. "Give me a moment. The Crux doesn't respond to me easily outside of official channels."

Snow tossed Yuna a crystal. "Maybe you can make some use of that!"

She nodded, gripping it tight as monsters formed from the gate. "Will they disappear after you leave?"

"Yeah," Snow said. "They're attracted to problems in the timeline, like me. Once I'm gone, the gate should seal itself up and cut off their entry point. Assuming they don't disappear completely."

He and Tidus charged the horde forming from the gate while Eight pressed his hand to wall, eyes closed in concentration.

Turning to face the enemy, Yuna called again on the otherworldly power that allowed her to cast Holy.

Blue veins of light surrounded her at the call and soon the space was encompassed about in a flash of cold. Ice crawled along the ground away from Yuna, forming a circle about her.

"Ah, yes!" came Snow's voice again. "Come on, Shiva!"

Yuna kept summoning, which brought about a rumbling echo in the ground beneath her and a singing edge to the air. The creatures avoided her for the magic, their figures scrambling backward.

Something alien coursed in Yuna's veins, a rhythm she'd never felt the like of in her life. It was slow, like white magic, but thudded hard like black. She couldn't identify the beat – it seemed intermittent and irregular, with beating and flowing occurring at odd intervals.

"Come to me," Yuna pleaded. She could feel the presence within her reach, but her lack of a bond with it made it difficult to summon. "Please."

 _Shiva_ , echoed a feminine voice. _That's our name._

"Come to me, Shiva!"

The air exploded with cold, ice slamming the wall behind Yuna while two figures formed before her. Twin Fayth, she realized as their similar figures swirled and danced for a second until they fell into place before her.

Snow whooped, pumping the air with his fist. Yuna didn't know the two, so she couldn't command them, only watch as they unleashed billowing ice magic upon the creatures surrounding them. She could only hope they would know the difference between friend and foe.

"I'm going to marry you!" Tidus shouted over the sound of battle.

Yuna pulled out her guns and blasted another creature while the sisters bore down on the hoard. "Took you long enough!"

"What do you mean, 'took long enough?' You objected last time!"

"You didn't ask last time!" Yuna kicked out the dead body of the birdlike creature and planted herself to aim for the upcoming swarm. She cast protect on herself. "You _brought it up_!"

"Isn't that what I did this time, too?"

"Snow!" Eight shouted. "Now!"

As the two dashed for a new, large gash in reality, Yuna paused and wondered what she'd left Snow alone to.

* * *

The minute the two touched the portal to the Farplane, the original gate enveloped itself in light and _shattered_.

Tidus threw himself under the cover of a dead behemoth as tiny bits of shrapnel and light flew past him as glittering projectiles. Yuna's protect spell kept her intact, though he saw the invisible shield burn to nothing with the impact.

With a cry fueled by adrenaline, Tidus jumped back into the fray, twisting and slicing into monsters left and right, using the force of each thrust to propel the bodies into their friends.

Gunfire blasted the area around him, spraying blood and who-knew-what his way. "I'm gonna have to clean that!" he protested.

Yuna ignored him, taking down dozens more monsters without breaking a sweat.

Until a raging, doglike beast caught her from behind.

Tidus leapt over the piles of dead toward Yuna, sword out. She wrestled with the beast, but she never was the melee fighter.

Screaming out a war cry, Tidus stabbed creatures with his sword, sending them all tumbling to the ground. More gunfire sounded and he watched Yuna change back into that dark-uniformed version of herself just in time to slam the offending dog into the ceiling, then floor. It broke in two.

Apparently she became a melee fighter at some point.

"Aw, yeah!" Tidus dislodged his sword and spun it in his hands, flicking blackened blood everywhere. "Look at us!"

The two aeons that Yuna summoned spun about, casting ice spells and slaughtering the remaining intruders. Within moments the arena cleared, though it took a little longer for the pyreflies to return to their normal, swirling patterns around them. Some images of past summoners and guardians clung to Yuna without a word, though most of them wandered aimlessly. The number of spirits must have doubled or tripled from the spell Yuna cast earlier, and Tidus could swear he saw the figures of people that would have lived in Zanarkand during his time.

Yuna turned toward the aeons, who faced her with neutral expressions. "Thank you. I didn't realize summoning was still possible."

They shook their heads and said nothing. Then they faded into light and the crystal in Yuna's hand cracked.

"What was that?" Tidus asked, coming to stand beside her. "I thought the Fayth were awake?"

"They are." Yuna turned to where Eight and Snow left, though their exit point faded back into a wall. "I wonder if he would understand what happened."

"Let's go." Tidus placed a hand on Yuna's shoulder. "Can't leave the others waiting."

Yuna let him guide her toward the stairs that led back up the broken ramps.

The trip back to Bevelle would be long, but at least they didn't have anything chasing after them.


	21. Chapter 21

Yuna walked out of her room with a sigh, glad for the chance to be clean again after all their traveling over creation. She thought she'd forget what it was like to be a civilized Spiran again. At least the dirt and grime helped her into the palace without anyone realizing who exactly she was – they'd merely assumed she was a messenger or agent for one of the factions.

Of course, she hadn't thought to bring a CommsSphere with her, so it wouldn't be their fault for her not communicating when she would get back.

She relished the feeling of being closer to herself. The battlefield was familiar to her, but she belonged in civilization. She felt at home back here in Bevelle, despite her wariness at the thought of standing above Yevon's buried secrets. That was Baralai's problem, she knew, so she would let him worry about making up for all the blood and suffering Yevon caused.

Despite her relief at being back, she couldn't help the feeling that there was something wrong. The halls were emptier than normal, and she didn't hear a lot of casual conversation between those she did pass. It felt… better, in some ways, but also missing something.

Yuna stopped at Baralai's office, ready to end this period of indecisiveness once and for all. She opened the door, wondering how the next few years would be. She could use some work to keep busy, but she also had to admit to herself that she felt a little intimidated by the level of attention she would receive as such a high-ranking member of the Council.

She blinked when the door opened to an empty room.

"Baralai?" she called. "Hello? Chancellor?"

No one responded.

Humming to herself, Yuna left to find him elsewhere.

Bevelle was warm for now, given the time of the year, but Yuna knew it would only last for so much longer before the cold set in and she'd be thrust into one of Bevelle's winters.

She arrived in the conservatory, which was a common place for Baralai to visit. It also turned up empty. A feeling of uneasiness settled in her stomach.

"Excuse me." Yuna stopped a female palace worker, "But where's the chancellor?"

The worker blinked, brow furrowing. "Haven't you heard he's on an errand to Luca?"

"I haven't." Yuna gave a polite bow. "Of course. Thank you."

The worker nodded back and continued on her way. Yuna turned as if to go toward the office, but as soon as she was sure she was out of earshot, she left for the exit. Her heart thumped, a sense of urgency disrupting her calm.

The rebellion was quelled and the Moonflow solved, and yet she couldn't help but feel like she was missing something.

Yuna pulled out her CommSphere, quickly tapping in Lulu's combination. "Baralai's missing," she said. "They say he's on an errand to Luca, but I never heard anything of the sort before we left."

It took a minute for Lulu to respond. "What? He's not on a diplomatic mission?"

"Maybe. But it would be the strangest time for a peace talk. An announcement, maybe, but they're still resolving the rebellion." What Minwu said about the spirit taking another body…

Lulu offered a reassuring smile. "He'll likely turn up."

"…Yeah. Of course." She closed the link and dropped the sphere back in her bag.

Yuna couldn't help a sharp pang of sadness when she did so – how often would she find time to visit her old home in Besaid? When was the next time she would fall asleep on the soft sand of the beach, watching the sun sink on the horizon?

She looked down the hallway behind her. Such a sweet scent to the place, like morning flowers and fruit tea.

Bevelle couldn't be so bad, could it?

* * *

Kurgum looked at himself in the mirror as he fastened the last of his script-panels into place with a belt. He grimaced at the way the belt constricted his stomach and airways, but he left it in place. Summoner garb often wasn't the most comfortable, but it was tradition for a reason.

He took a test spin, watching the panels flare out with the slashed skirt of his robe. He favored red and white in his apparel, and here he managed to keep it mostly to those two colors. That helped him a feel a little more at ease, as he didn't much care for the wide variety used on other church robes.

His feet caught on each other, and Kurgum stumbled, catching the dresser to steady himself.

It was disorienting not to have such a complete image in his eyes anymore, but he was getting used to it. He was adjusting to the idea of never getting back to normal.

"Ready?" came Chuami's voice from outside.

Kurgum nodded to himself, clipping a feather into his small braid. He didn't feel anywhere close to it, but he knew it wouldn't get better with practice. "Yes."

When he emerged from the dressing room, Chuami and Yuna waited for him. "Where are the others?" he asked.

"In place at the square," Chuami said. "Come on. We're going to be late."

Yuna offered him a small smile as she turned to leave. She dressed differently from him, favoring a similar aesthetic to her old garb with detached sleeves and a pleated skirt.

Kurgum wondered how much of that was for nostalgia's sake, and how much of it was to remind people she was the same person she was three years ago.

He suspected both to be true.

Chuami offered her arm, but Kurgum politely refused. "I have to do this myself," he said. "If I can't even walk to the square, how am I supposed to dance before the entirety of Spira?"

"… Fine." Chuami glanced about them as they made their way downstairs, looking almost… uncomfortable. "They're better? Your eyes?"

Kurgum nodded. "I still can't really see out of the right one, but most of the pain has faded."

"You know," Yuna said slowly, "with the recent changes in staff, we could use more energy in the religion sect. Any chance you could find the time to make praetor?"

Kurgum blinked. "Praetor? Is that really such a good idea?"

"I don't see why not."

They approached the exit gate. "How many dead? Did they total their count?"

Yuna nodded. "It looks like we're settled on forty-five. Ten rebels and the rest being scattered casualties from around the land. Djose lost two families to the riots, and Luca reports a couple dozen crossfire accidents."

Not far from the numbers they would regularly accumulate during Sin's reign. "All bodies accounted for?"

"And laid out on the square," Chuami said. "You two Send them, and Bevelle's people should be satisfied. The rebellion's still kind of huffy, but I doubt it'll last for much longer. Now that Leblanc's been exposed for the conwoman that she is, all that's left should be injured pride for being fooled by her flattery."

"That's progress," Yuna said. "And progress is all we need."

The square, Kurgum discovered, could hold a lot more people than he thought it could. A barrier had been erected around where the coffins were spread out on the ground in a circular pattern, and Spirans had crowded all around, many pressing right up against the fence.

Yuna kept walking forward, though Kurgum couldn't help feeling some trepidation at the sight. He still didn't feel like he had recovered his original dexterity, and he'd never exactly danced together with another Summoner before. Yuna would be fine – everyone loved her and she'd Sent dozens of gatherings before. She always conducted herself with grace and poise, confidence shining through in every move.

But what about him?

"You coming?" Chuami asked, stepping down ahead of him. "They're not going to wait forever, you know."

"Right." Kurgum hobbled down the steps, leaning heavily onto his staff. He felt like his body grew heavier the farther he went.

When he reached the front doors of the palace lobby, he waited for Yuna. She cast him a quizzical look, and Kurgum realized she probably saw the fear in his face. Of course, she would. She was Lady Yuna, after all.

Two guards stepped up and opened the doors before them, unleashing the force of the noonday sun. Kurgum blinked spots out of his vision as the crowd greeted them with a chorus of "Hail the High Summoner!"

In that moment, Kurgum realized there was no decision to be made at all. The reason Baralai was so intent on getting Yuna to accept the position wasn't simply to pass the responsibility on to her, but because the entirety of Spira had accepted her as their caretaker, legal or not. Baralai's public word held no value over hers.

"Follow me." Yuna took Kurgum's hand. "We should take our positions over there."

"Wait – where?"

She pulled him toward the center of the square, moving quickly and gracefully forward.

"People of Spira!" she called, dropping his hand and stopping in the middle of the coffins and crowd. "We've lost lives to this conflict!"

Kurgum swallowed hard as he stepped around the deep-red caskets. His robes brushed against flower bouquets bequeathing the dead, and he couldn't help a small shudder. Usually when he performed Sendings, it was for smaller gatherings.

Not for almost fifty bodies.

"Wives have lost their husbands, and brothers their sisters!"

He tuned out for a moment as Yuna continued her speech. The caskets surrounded him, and around them stood hundreds – if not thousands – of rapt Spiran citizens. They all watched him and Yuna, ready for them to magically make right this wrong.

Sound swam in Kurgum's ears as he tried to draw a steadying breath.

It caught in his throat.

"Ready?" Yuna asked gently, anchoring him to reality. "We're set to begin."

Kurgum looked between her and the rest of Spira. They watched eagerly, some with tense posture and clasped hands. Others with stern faces and folded arms.

"Yes," he managed despite his shortness of breath.

Yuna stepped away.

He understood the procedure well – they'd gone over it so many times he lost count – and he knew that the attention was for Yuna. He would have felt more embarrassed by the thought if it weren't also for the fact that it would take attention away from his limp. It would concern some that a cripple was performing a sending, but any thought they had about it would quickly be swept away when Yuna stepped in partway through.

His steps were shaky at first. His bad leg felt numb and useless below him. He tried to refrain from leaning on his staff at all, but he couldn't help a few moments of using it to help him through a movement.

After a few minutes, however, he found himself falling into the flow of the dance and forgetting about the audience. They kept strangely silent, leaving Kurgum to wonder if it was the sanctity of a Sending that remained to be the only common respect between rebel and traditionalist. If so, then even more reason to get it right this time.

Kurgum stumbled on his bad foot again but managed to use his staff to keep from falling. Some murmured quietly, though he didn't know if it was out of concern or disgust. He'd never heard of a cripple continuing their vocation as a Summoner. But then, before the end of Sin, most Summoners didn't get crippled. They'd either quit or get killed.

He completed the length of his dance and slowed into a brief reprieve, staff falling idle at his side. The gathered Spirans all bowed their heads, as was appropriate to do at the end of a dedicated sending like this.

And then Yuna stepped in.

Kurgum didn't need to look to know when it happened, as a lot of heads snapped right back up and more murmurings rippled through air.

Beads clinked nearby and Kurgum knew the moment had come. He took up his staff again and spun it before him, causing a sparkling glow as it twisted in the air. Then he stepped to the side and Yuna took his place. Kurgum kept moving, spinning his staff in circles around his person, as if to ward off an unseen enemy.

It'd been so long since he performed a proper sending, he thought back to the time when he first learned how to use a staff at the Bevelle temple.

 _You protect Spira_ , the priests told him _. Let that reflect in your feet and in your hands. Every thought and priority be Yevon's glory. You protect Him, and you protect His children._

He held out a hand, as if to warn away.

 _Your life is no longer your own after this day. Swear to it, that your every breath is for the benefit of Spira and of Yevon._

Twirled his staff before him and behind, warding again.

 _Your weakness is an obstacle, your fallacies a sin. If you cannot help even yourself, then you have no place in our circles._

Stabbed the air and whipped his staff to each side, mimicking field attacks.

 _Be Guardian and Summoner at once. Give your all, give your life, and all you hold dear. Give us all. Give Yevon all, that Spira may benefit from your sacrifice._

Hit the ground and spun on his good leg, old instincts kicking in. He danced about Yuna, carrying his offense into the unseen forces about her.

 _Do you swear it?_

Rushed before Yuna and slowed to a calm transition.

 _I do._

He kneeled and offered up both hands, staff pulled straight across. He bowed his head in subservience, habit guiding his motions.

Behind him, Yuna fell still and silence reverberated through the square.

Kurgum breathed heavily, eye stuck on the sun-stained cement beneath him. The late afternoon sun warmed his back as he waited for the signal to stand again.

Beads clinked.

Heaving a sigh, he pulled himself straight again, using his staff to leverage his weight off the ground. Chuami offered him a hand, but he politely refused again.

"I can manage." He cast a meaningful look to the crowd.

Chuami pursed her lips. "They don't care, idiot. Don't give them anything they won't appreciate the value of."

The crowd quietly dispersed.

"What does that mean?" Time for afternoon communion had come, and most would want to be back with their family by the time the sun set.

"I mean," Chuami said, "They don't truly get what you've been through, and there's no point in being strong for them since they don't care. They're idiots, Kurgum. Don't chalk up any value to their opinion."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They walked back together in silence, watching Yuna join Paine and laugh at some inside jokes.

"It's kind of strange," Kurgum said, "not having the chancellor here. He's usually so good at telling us what his plans are. I wonder where he might have disappeared to?"

"Yeah," Chuami said with a heavy sigh. "I wonder."

* * *

"They're going to try to help Leblanc," Yuna said as Tidus dried his hair off with a towel. She held a scroll in her hands that contained the most recent reports from Djose. "I don't know how she's turned into what she is, but we should be able to get back some of the goodness she once had."

"I can get behind that. Hey, what's our place look like? Is it big? Is it comfy? Does it have a fountain?"

Yuna laughed, the sensation of it breaking through some of her reverie. "Spira's recovering," she said, "but I don't think we're Zanarkand yet! If you're looking for luxurious chairs or something, that's a ways off."

"What _was_ that in Zanarkand that you did?" Tidus asked, falling into a seat beside her. "You know, with the summon?"

"I'm not sure." She hummed. "I think I may have called on something from… somewhere new. Either this world or another. I've never seen or read of anything like it."

"I'll say. I've certainly never heard of it. Granted, I also had never heard of the Fayth or Sin or aeons before I came here, so that's probably not saying much."

Yuna sighed and rolled the scroll shut. It didn't have anything helpful. "What Eight said, about the beings lending themselves from another world. It… reminded me of something."

"Of what?"

"What are we going to do about all the Unsent?"

Tidus shrugged and pulled his shirt on. He had to borrow clothes from the palace, thanks to his usual outfit being ruined by their trip. He looked a little bit too much like a priest now, and he shifted uncomfortably in his skirts. "We'll have to Send them, I guess," he said. "Maybe hire more Senders? Train more? I don't know what you guys need to do that, though. Geez, these things are hot – don't you have any way to wear them without so many layers? And so stiff!"

"Sending," Yuna said, "isn't particularly complicated or difficult. The real challenge of being a Summoner before was in the pilgrimage and traveling between all the temples. Sending was just one thing we learned at the beginning."

Tidus fidgeted. "Don't count me in. Wearing something like this every day would drive me crazy."

Yuna chuckled. "It's how you dance, not what you wear."

"Good." Tidus shifted his weight and shook out his hair again. "Perhaps I'll get used to Bevelle."

"Maybe."

He offered a stunning and toothy smile back, illuminated by the morning light. Maybe the universe was in danger, but Yuna couldn't bring herself to care in that moment.

In that moment, all she cared about was Tidus' presence and getting Spira back under control.

* * *

A/N: _Special thanks to Metha S for their support every chapter and my sister for being my co-auther. This was a fun experience, but needless to say, it's not done. Expect to see other pieces released to further the story in coming weeks._


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